


This Is Fine :/

by TheElkMaidenn



Series: Henry Danger stories [1]
Category: Henry Danger (TV)
Genre: And he's sick of it, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exhaustion, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Familial Relationships, Guilt, Henry is done with everyone, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships, Rated T for language, Still NO ACTUAL ROMANTIC INTERESTS THOUGH, Swellview is convinced he's dying and can't be convinced otherwise, The Universe disagrees, The chapters also keep on getting longer, This started off as a simple thing but it just keeps getting deeper, nothing else, this actually has a plot now, what?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 51,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29441682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheElkMaidenn/pseuds/TheElkMaidenn
Summary: The events of the Rock Box Dump were just the start to what turned out to be the worst week of Henry's life.From being fired, to the world thinking Kid Danger is dead, to having an anxiety attack, to having nightmares, to having to lie about knowing and dating Kid Danger, to interdimensional portals. It's a surprise he's still sane, at this point.
Relationships: Henry Hart & Ray Manchester
Series: Henry Danger stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162604
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. Henry Makes a Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> In this, Henry has two social media accounts, one as Kid Danger, and the other as Henry Hart.
> 
> Also, I'm writing this as a distraction for my heightened anxiety, so if it doesn't make much sense then that's why.

“Thank God that’s over! Henry sighed as he slumped over on the only remaining patch of sofa not covered by well-wishers’ gifts.

“Yeah, man. Shame people won’t be sending us any more chocolate covered raisins, though. I could do with some right now,” Ray said, passing Henry on the seat and heading up for a shower, giving the pile a cursory glance over beforehand.

“Not that you need them!” Henry sniped back, lifting his head to shoot Ray a cheeky grin, “And they were supposed to be for me, anyway! So if any more are sent, you won’t be getting any.” Ray’s head popped from behind the sprocket at that.

“Just you wait and see, bucko,” he motioned between their eyes with two fingers, “I say that whoever finds them first should get them, how about that?” His head disappeared again, and quick steps could be heard retreating.

“Well that’s no fair! You live here!” Called Henry, though he knew that he couldn’t be heard.

Looking over at the pile he spotted a large box of every type of brownie and muffin from CommanDough, the newly opened bakery run by two ex-military guys. A quick glance around the room confirmed that he was alone in the room, with Schwoz off at a family reunion, Charlotte had texted him informing him that Jasper had turned up at her house and was refusing to leave, and Ray was in the shower.

With lightning speed, the box was in his lap and opened, a big chunk of triple chocolate chunk muffin missing and already in his mouth. Another quick peek towards the sprocket confirmed that Ray hadn’t magically appeared again, and within minutes almost the entire box of baked goods were finished, with only a strawberry jam filled almond muffin and white chocolate and caramel chunk blondie left.

As he sat, slumped to the side, panting slightly from having eaten so much in such a short amount of time, an uncomfortable feeling started to bloom just below his rib on his left hand side. The feeling climbed up his chest, a sharp stabbing pain spread across his left pec, and a feeling like white-hot coal being stuck in the back of his throat finished the unpleasant climb, though the fire seamed to continuously travel through his body. Acid reflux.

Immediate regret flooded him as he rubbed his stomach and chest, trying to ease the pain, but nothing worked. He pushed the nearly empty box away from himself as he tried to shift himself into a more comfortable position, but he knew it was pointless. With deep ingrained resignation and certainty built from experience, he settled himself in for a long couple of hours and decided to scroll through Twitflash until he could get up and find some ant-acids.

A sudden flash of pain and heat sped its way up and sat lodged in the back of his chest, making him cough involuntarily. _This is miserable_. He thought, deciding to complain. But he needed somebody to complain to and nobody was around. _Welp, that’s what social medias for_. Little did he know that this decision was probably one of the ones he’d regret for a long time, even when the consequences were dealt with.

Kid Danger @ReallyKidDanger

I’m in so much pain and I have so many regrets!

  * 6:18pm – Nov 11, 2017
  * 2k Retweets – 307 Quote Tweets – 14.9k Likes




	2. Henry Continues Making Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry deals with heartburn while being accosted by journalists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for plot. I didn't mean for character growth. It just kinda happened. Also, I'm updating as I'm going. No second read throughs. No editing. Nothing. This is pure, undiluted, brain fart.

*BeepBeepBeep*

A sound was interrupting his sleep

*BeepBeepBeep*

“No!”

*BeepBeepBeep*

A sudden sharp discomfort found itself lodged in his chest and throat, with a lovely side of fire sitting comfortably in between in his chest.

“Ooohhh! I feel terrible!”

“That’s your own fault, Kid,” Came a rather annoyed voice that was obviously trying to hide it’s amusement. That shocked Henry awake enough, as he suddenly sat up, then immediately fell back down again with a groan. “Did you fall asleep in your suit?” Ray was standing at the computer in full Captain Man gear, getting ready to answer the video call that was coming through.

Henry looked down at himself and realized that he hadn’t actually got changed before he gorged himself on too many confectionaries, much like Ray had done the night before.

“Yeah, so what if I did? What’s the time anyway?” He said, becoming slightly defensive.

“It’s just gone half seven, I would have kicked you out before nine, don’t worry. Your family probably haven’t even realized you’re late yet,” Ray said as he pressed the button to answer.

“Captain Man! Help us!” Shouted a very disheveled looking soot covered bald man from the screen.

“Hey! What about me?” called Henry at the same time as Ray said “Okay. Tell us about your problem.”

“My florist is burning down! And my niece is stuck inside, she was doing her work experience and was doing inventory in the back room! Please save her!” The frantic man was almost hysterical.

“I’m on my way there immediately. Kid Danger, come on……” Ray trailed off as he turned to look at the rather miserable looking sidekick. “Hey, for real, are you actually okay?”

“Just peachy,” Henry gave him a thumbs up, before grimacing and groaning as he tried to stand up.

“Do you want to stay here for this one? I’m not really sure what you can do in a fire without getting hurt anyway.”

“Nah. I’m fine. I’m used to it.” By this point, Henry was already at the pipes and Ray had his hand hovering over the button to hang up the call. “You coming or what?”

“If you’re sure,” and the button was pushed and before long they were already one their way up the tube and onto the streets.

* * *

By the time they arrived at the scene, firefighters were surrounding the building, water being gushing in through the window and door as people were getting ready to rush inside and were gathering directions from the florist on how to get to his nice. Ray immediately ran over to the nearest firefighter and started asking questions, and Henry would have immediately followed but the sudden movement really didn’t agree with his stomach, causing another bubble of acid to travel up and make him cough violently. A quick look around showed that nobody had payed him much attention as they were too busy with the fire that could very easily spread to the surrounding buildings.

A few deep breaths and a quick stretch later, Kid Danger was on the scene, half a step behind Captain Man, listening intently as they were told what needed doing. Captain Man was sent into the blazing building with a spare oxygen tank for trapped adolescent, while Kid Danger was sent to go distract the crowds and keep them away from the fire.

On his way to the crowd he felt a churning in his stomach, though he couldn’t tell if it was from the heartburn or a warning that something bad was going to happen. He would later learn it was both.

As soon as he was in range, he was accosted by a hoard of people, press and regular citizens alike.

“Kid Danger! Is it true that hypermotility is actually a disease and you lied earlier to stop that girl from hurting herself?”

“Kid Danger, why is it that you said you have regrets? What do you regret in life?”

“Kid Danger, is hypermotility really as painful as you said?”

“Kid Danger, is the disease the thing that gives you superpowers? How did you get it? Can you give it to me?”

That last one caught Henry off guard and turned to see Jeff standing among the crowd holding his phone out, probably video calling someone.

“What? Jeff? No! I’m not giving you hypermotility! Not in a million years, now go away! I cannot deal with you right now!” Jeff clicked his tongue, but acquiesced, and slowly left the crowd, holding the middle finger up behind him as he went.

Before long, his attention was back on the crowd of reporters who had managed to barge their ways to the front and were sticking camera and microphones in his face. “Now. One at a time, please,” He pointed to Evelyn, secretly liking her the most because she was disillusioned to Captain Mans bullshit.

“On social media, you said that you are in immense pain and have many regrets. Yet earlier, you said that hypermotility was a superpower and not a disease,” she left the question open for him to answer, but he really couldn’t. When had he said he was in pain? When did he say he had regrets? He remembered doing it on his private Twitflash, which only Charlotte, Jasper, Ray, and Piper followed. He had blocked everybody else for being too annoying or complete strangers.

“What? No, I didn’t. Did I?” Confusion consumed him as he pulled out his phone. A quick glance showed the offending tweet.

Kid Danger @ReallyKidDanger

I’m in so much pain and I have so many regrets!

  * 6:18pm – Nov 11, 2017
  * 1k Retweets – 1.2k Quote Tweets – 75.6k Likes



_Oh no_ , was the only thing Henry could think for a while, staring down in shock at the colossal stupidity that had got him into this situation. After much goldfishing, the only thing to escape his mouth was a squeaked, “I sent that on the wrong account! That was supposed to be private,” And he immediately deleted it. Unfortunately, the proof that it was too late was directly in front of him, waiting for an explanation.

“So you admit that you are in pain, and also have regrets?” Evelyn poked, voice slightly hopeful in the way in which implied she wanted him to say that he’s fine and was just a joke.

“I-I mean yeah, but I’m fine. I’m totally fine. I had just dealt with this earlier as well!” The last part was for him, as he swung his hands up and walked in a short circle, trying to keep his cool and think his way out of this. Unfortunately for him, the raised voice didn’t help his already irritated throat and caused a cough to escape before he could control it. A quick pat on the chest sorted him out though, before it could turn into a fit.

The mood immediately fell from hopeful to resigned among the crowd and Henry knew he had screwed up really bad.

“No, really! I’m fine! I promise! Hypermotility is still just a superpower. I just-“ at that moment a large rush of air in the fire caused a backdraft, reaching Henry and a short camera man who had managed to slip in front.

As soon as the first sign that something was wrong reached Henry, time seemed to slow in the way it does when you can’t stop anything. Thankfully for him, his hypermotility allowed him to give the man, and subsequently the people behind him, a mighty shove and managed to everybody out of the way of the fire, though a few eyebrows and eyelashes were singed from the excess heat.

Henry managed to get himself up and immediately knew he had to get everybody out of there, no matter what. It was too dangerous for anybody to stay out here. He held out his hand for the few people still on the floor and cleared his throat. _Fuck this! I cannot deal with much more. Just leave me alone. I want to go to bed!_ The angry tirade was smoldering under the surface as he turned his attention back to the crowd.

As soon as he saw their faces, though, he knew what he’d done.

“I’m sorry, did you just swear?”

As soon as Evelyn said that, everyone was clambering over each other to ask. But all Henry could respond with was,

“Wait, that’s what you’re focusing on? What about the part where I told you to LEAVE?! And anyway, that was supposed to stay inside my head. I’m just very tired and uncomfortable so if you could all leave before I have to save your lives again due to incompetence on your part, that’d be great!” sarcasm and disbelief dripping from him in equal measures. When nobody seemed to listen something in him snapped. “GO!” he roared, pulling his laser out and pointing it at the closest person, who just so happened to be a reporter from Neighborville.

As the crowd started fleeing, a sharp cough escaped, followed by another, and another, until he was coughing so hard, he felt as though he was going to throw up.

As he caught his breath, a hand landed on his back and started rubbing. Looking up, he caught the raised eyebrow of Captain Man, looking rather amused, but still slightly concerned.

“You didn’t tell me you were a cougher!” He chuckled, fake accusingly.

“Yeah well, it’s never been this bad before,” Henry huffed, taking a step back and removing Ray’s hand from his back.

“Oh, don’t be a sour puss. Why don’t you head home and get some antacids and maybe a cup of water? We’re basically finished here and there is literally nothing left for you to do except stand around and look pretty, and that’s my job.”

Henry’s immediate impulse was to scoff and role his eyes, but actually thinking about it, it made sense. “Fine, but why are you being so nice? Not that I’m criticizing, but this is very unlike you.”

Ray’s expression dropped at that, though Henry couldn’t quite read it behind the mask.

“Charlotte has been trying to teach me about empathy and how to apply it. It sucks major ass, but as I’m learning about it, it makes me feel worse about ignoring it. She told me that before I say something I have to imagine what it’s like being that person. And, after yesterday, I realize how much this might actually suck for you. And now I know that if I wouldn’t like it then you must not like it. Make sense?”

Henry was stunned. And as he stared up at Ray’s face, he realized what he was seeing there. Nervousness. The great Captain Man was nervous about trying to be a better person. Holy _shit_! A grin slowly spread across Kid Danger’s face and in the blink of an eye he was hugging Captain Man as tight as he could, face hidden in his chest.

“I’m so proud of you, Man,” was all that could be heard as the hug as returned, and a small, genuine smile made its way onto Captain Man’s face in public for the first time ever. A bright flash and a click brought them out of their own bubble almost as soon as it formed. Both males attention was immediately on the photographer, who still hadn’t left for some reason.

“Who you still have flash on?” was the only thing Henry could think to say, before another acid bubble started moving and caused an involuntary groan to escape him as he shifted slightly.

“Doesn’t matter. Go _home._ I can handle everything here. The fire’s nearly out anyway,” a quick glance over their shoulders confirmed that the front part was no longer flaming.

“Fine. But I’m coming in early tomorrow. You are not eating anymore of my chocolate raisins,” he said as he started to jog off towards the nearest tube, making sure to take the long way around to avoid suspicion.

_Piper is going to be insufferable._


	3. Henry Snaps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry's temper gets the better of him.

**“Breaking News. Last night, a fire started in the flower shop, Kabloom on Captain Man Street, when a sun lamp fell into a pot of dead leaves that were in the process of being cleaned up. Nobody was harmed and the majority of the fire was contained within the first two rooms of the shop, leaving surrounding buildings unharmed.**

**In other news, Kid Danger was interviewed and confirmed that the post on Twitflash yesterday was not, in fact, a joke. Very little information was gathered from him, however. But he quoted as feeling “uncomfortable” and like he can’t deal with much. Security footage and local citizens alike, however, caught multiple coughing fits and looks of discomfort on camera. Most disturbing of all, though, was the public display of affection and worry that appeared out of nowhere during the fire, before Kid Danger was sent away, despite the fire still raging. Nobody knows what was said, but the clear concern on Captain Man’s face confirms what we have been saying all along. Kid Danger is sick. And it appears his superpower is a symptom.”**

Annoyance spread through Henry as he sat in the kitchen, trying his hardest to ignore the absolute rubbish coming from the TV in the other room, which Piper and his Mum were sat watching intently. His breakfast was long forgotten, with him still feeling rather full from the evening before. He just sat there, glaring holes in his plate, pushing his scrambled eggs around, not feeling inclined to either eat them or tidy them away.

“No!” Piper’s cry pulled from his brooding. She was huddled up on the, encompassed in the consoling arms of Siren Hart, sobbing her heart out, “But he said he was fine! Why would he lie like that? He must be in so much pain! We need to help him!”

Siren rocked her back and forth slightly, shushing into her hair, “He was trying to stop you from hurting yourself with the rocks. You could have been killed, Piper.” She mumbled, just loud enough for Henry to hear.

An angry sighed made its way involuntarily out of his nose, as he turned away and chucked his eggs into the food bin.

“I heard crying and came to check. What’s going on?” Asked his Dad, making his way into the kitchen.

“The news is going on again about how Kid Danger has hypermotility and is super sick,” Henry answered, not turning around, knowing he wouldn’t be able to control his temper if he actually looked at any of them.

“But I thought him and Captain Man said it was actually a superpower?”

“They did.” Henry grit his teeth, not wanting to let his annoyance, anger, and frustration slip.

“But it’s actually a symptom! Just like coughing and chest pain!” Piped up Piper, who was slowly calming down.

That was it. That was the final straw. Henry didn’t know why this was making him so frustrated, but it was and he needed to get out before he said something he’d regret later. He slowly and carefully placed the plate beside the sink and turned around, keeping his gaze away from his family. “I’m going out.”

“Son, please. We were actually going to have a family day today, and it would be lovely of you to join us. Especially if you can help distract Piper and cheer her up,” Jake approached him, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder,

“No!” _Oh no! My temper is slipping_ , “I do not want to be around any more of this bullshit! The news is wrong! Kid Danger is not SICK! He does not have a DISEASE! And so there’s no point in being upset over something that ISN’T HAPPENING!” Henry was heaving, trying to regain his composure, knowing that he really should leave.

“And how would you know! How would _you_ know that hypermotility isn’t a disease? _Hmmm?!_ ” Piper retorted, standing from her position on the sofa and stomping her way over.

“BECAUSE I HAVE HYPERMOTILITY!” Screamed Henry, directly in her face, anger getting the better of him. As soon as he said it, he knew he had fucked up.

The silence that fell was deafening. Piper and Henry were left panting at each other, identical looks of shock on both of their faces. Jake was stood, jaw dropped and eyes bulging. Siren was halfway sat down, repeatedly swallowing, unsure of what to say or do.

Piper was the first to recover and took a step back, breaking the spell that had fallen over the family. “You have hypermotility?”

“Ummmm……” Henry really didn’t know what to do. If he said he was lying then if he did something unexplainable in the future then they might connect the dots. But if he said yes, and then made up a story, then he might get away mostly trouble free. But also, Ray may very well fire him or kill him, depending on how generous he’s feeling. The clock was ticking and he needed to answer quick.

“’Ummmm’ what? Do you really have hypermotility? Why didn’t you tell us?” Asked a rather distraught looking Siren, finally joining her family in the kitchen. Jake was still reeling and tears could be seen forming in his eyes. _Shit. Welp. Two birds with one stone, I guess. In for a penny in for a pound._

“So…uh…funny story! I have hypermotility! Surprise!” He said, trying his hardest to lighten the mood and even introduced jazz hands.

“What? When? How? _What_?!” Screeched Piper, arms flailing everywhere.

“Son? How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell us? How..um..how-“

“I’m gonna have to stop you right there, sorry,” Henry interrupted Jake, “I’m not dying. That is not a thing that is happening. If it can kill people then I’m pretty sure the Captain Man Gang would have told me by now.”

“But Captain Man said it was deadly,” interrupted Piper. Henry just carried on slightly louder.

“I was there when Kid Danger got it in…an alley behind Junk ‘n’ Stuff. I was…trying to get his autograph for you, Piper, because I didn’t have my phone on me. A bad guy came and shot us with a ..um….laser. Captain Man’s and Kid Danger’s doctor friend told us we are fine. It changed our DNA a bit, but all it did was make it so that we can do things super fast. That’s it.” Henry was close to vibrating with nerves and what he would later call his _Oh Shit_ energy.

“Well,” Jake sighed, planting his hands on his hips and shaking his head, “That’s a lot to unpack.”

“It changed your DNA?” Siren’s hands fluttered with her need to take her son into her arms and check him over.

“What happened to the laser?” Asked Piper, clutching onto the least relevant detail to give herself time to absorb all the information.

“Oh, Kid Danger destroyed it with his laser gun.”

“But why would a bad guy voluntarily give someone superpowers? Wouldn’t it make more sense to give them a deadly disease to weaken them so they can’t fight back?”

The _Oh shit_ energy was starting to increase and the vibrating was starting to become visible, with his hands becoming as slight blur.

“What’s happening to your hands?” Asked Piper, pointing to them.

Lifting them to his face, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down a bit. “Well, everything I do, I can do it really fast. But I slow myself down to be normal. But instinctual things happen at superspeed, like shaking from nerves and anger, or dodging something heading towards.”

“Oh. Makes sense.” Said Piper, momentarily distracted.

“Henry, why didn’t you tell us?” Asked Siren, finally giving into her motherly instincts and stepping between the siblings, cupping his face in the hands.

“Because I just want to be normal and it’s not like you can just bring it up in casual conversation. _Oh, by the way, I have a superpower now because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I’m not going to become a superhero because screw that, I can’t fight. By the way, what’s for dinner?_ Yeah. Not something you can really do.”

“But you could have at least told us. We’re your family.”

Henry sighed. He did kind of feel bad. And yet he was still lying, about basically everything.

“Yeah. I guess. I’m sorry, mum. If I make spicy meatballs tonight, am I forgiven?”

“No, but it’s a start,” Jake stepped in to put his hand on Henry’s shoulder for real this time.

“Yeah. And you have to do it really fast while I record it.” Piper added in, stepping to his side, completing the huddle, making him feel safe and relaxed, that is until it registered what he has said.

“What? No!”

“Why not?”

“Because what if people think I’m Kid Danger and then start targeting me, or worse, starts targeting you. Captain Man was very clear that nobody can ever know. Ever!”

The entire family simultaneously took an intake of breath, three from shock with the general aura of _good point,_ and one with the intent to go on a rant about how awful villains are.

“Yeah, okay. Makes sense,” Piper says, interrupting Henry before he can continue.

“Okay then. Now that that’s sorted, I’d really like to go, thanks.”

“But, wait!”

“What?!”

“You’re still wrong. Captain Man said Kid Danger is dying and Kid Danger confirmed that he is in immense pain and has many regrets, which means that he’s dying. Just because you got lucky, doesn’t mean he didn’t and it doesn’t mean it’ll last forever.”

“Oh my God! You’re all.. _ugh_! I’m leaving! Goodbye!” And with that, Henry was out the door in the cool November air, without a coat or wallet, walking down to Junk ‘n’ Stuff, ready to hide away from the world for awhile.


	4. Henry Deals With The Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry keeps saying the wrong thing and it's finally catching up to him.

Henry wasn’t even halfway to the store when his watch beeped three times, signalling an urgent emergency. Looking around for a spot to hide, he spotted a thin alley almost packed full of boxes next to a recently closed down tailors, and rushed to squat down among the boxes. A quick flip of the wrist and Ray in full Captain Man gear was seen hovering in front of his face.

“Hey, dude, what’s up?”

“Hey, Kid. I need you to get here already in uniform. Apparently, things have got a lot more out of hand than they were yesterday and a group of well-wishers and doctors managed to sneak themselves into the Man Cave disguised as get well presents. They’re causing a lot of problems. They ate all of the chocolate covered raisins and grapes.”

“Well shit, can they see me now?” Panic clutched his heart for a second as he quickly covered his face with his hand.

“No, don’t worry. I’m not an idiot. I’m calling you from my bedroom. And I’d find a tube to come through. I don’t want anybody seeing Kid Danger entering Junk ‘n’ Stuff and then not leave.”

“Oh good. Anyway, I was actually gonna get changed in the shop. I’m only a couple of blocks away, beside the old tailors that shut down.”

“Oh! There’s a tube entrance down that alley. It’s under the cardboard box that looks like it’s used as a bed. It’s actually metal and you can get it to open by turning the cup 180 degrees.”

“Wait, really? Why didn’t I know this was here? I could have used this every day and cut the last leg off my walk into work.”

“Because Henry Hart still needs to be seen coming into work, otherwise people might start getting suspicious. Only use the tunnel entrance incase of emergencies, got it?”

“Got it. And, one more thing,” Henry looked away, nervousness and regret flooding his system, “uh…can I talk to you when I get there? This is something I should probably tell you face-to-face. Is it okay if I meet you in your room?”

Ray furrowed his brow in concern and confusion at the serious tone that Henry was using, “Yeah, of course you can. I’ll wait here for you.”

“Great, thanks. Also, I forgot to have a drink this morning……”

“Yes, I’ll get a glass of water for you.”

“Thanks, Man.”

At that, Henry hung up and looked around. Not seeing anyone, he popped a piece of gum and transformed into the form fitting costume that identified him as Kid Danger. As he stood up, a passer-by spotted him as she was walking past the alley with a pushchair and gasped.

“Kid Danger! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in hospital?”

Henry had to physically stop himself from sighing and punching something. “I’m fine, miss. You don’t need to worry about me. I was just looking for my coat, which I definitely own and have with me right now in the cold November morning because it would be stupid of me to leave the house without it,” he panicked, looking around as if to try and spot his coat.

“Oh, well, do you need help looking for it?” The kind woman asked, shifting so she could put her phone in her pocket.

“No, I’m good thanks. I was just about to give up, anyway.”

“Okay,” the woman still looked unsure. After a second of looking around, it was as if a lightbulb switched in her head, “Here!” She reached into bottom of the pram she was pushing and pulled out an oversized bag full of what looked like clothes. “I was taking these to the charity shop, but you need a coat and I have one in here. It may be a bit big, it belonged to my ex, but it should do the job.” From within the bag she pulled out what looked to be a down quilted jacket that even looking at it, Henry knew would reach past his knees.

Feeling uncomfortable but also slightly warmed by the fact that this lovely woman would offer him something completely at random, he reached for the coat and put it on in the blink of an eye. “Thank you, miss. I am extremely grateful.”

“It’s nothing, really. And what kind of Swellviewian would I be if I didn’t look after our very own Kid Danger.” And with that, she nodded and started walking off again.

The coat was extremely long and Henry could barely get his hands out of the sleeves. Even trying to fully look around himself was difficult, with the puffy hood getting in the way, but he still managed to get a good look around to make sure nobody was following him as he made his way deeper into the alley.

The extra weight got to him as he was travelling down the tube, resulting in him falling a lot faster than he was used to, and his landing at the bottom was a lot less graceful than usual and, if it wasn’t for the glass tube keeping him up-right he would have stumbled a lot more and probably fallen over.

As soon as he landed he knew that Ray had not been exaggerating when he has vaguely said they were causing “problems”.

A large opened crate could be seen in the center of the room, covered in ribbons and balloons. A group of adolescent girls, one of which was the florist’s niece from the day before, were sat crowding around the gifts on the circular sofa. A bunch of people in lab coats were crowding around the computer which had been locked and could only be accessed with a three consecutive passwords from three different terminals scattered around the halls of the Man Cave (Schwoz-1s-5mart, RayI5Handsom!, and 1.Feel.G00d). A small gathering that Henry recognized as the spokespeople from the local LGBT+ group that raised money for different charities and regularly held vegan bake sales in the park were gathered around the tubes, and had immediately noticed him arrive and stumble.

As soon as the tube rose, the nearest one reached out to steady him. “You okay, hun?” They asked, not taking their hand from his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m good. Wasn’t expecting the coat to weigh so much, is all,” Henry responded, trying to shrug their hand off, but unable to maneuver properly with the extra fabric.

“Fair. Why’re you wearing it?” Piped up one of the girls from the sofa, who was very obviously only there for the baked gifts, and was eating the caramel blondie left over from yesterday.

“Because I was cold! Hey, I was saving those for my friends. I was gonna take them home.” Henry barged through the surrounding people, annoyed, and saved that remaining baked good from the grasp of the very disgruntled looking young girl. “Anyway, what are you all doing here? You shouldn’t be here and if you stay for much longer we’re gonna have to do something about it,” he half threatened. As he went to move past the people and up into the sprocket, a hand caught his wrist and pulled him so that he was facing one of the doctors, a middle-aged Latina woman with her hair pulled in a tight bun and her varifocal glasses falling slightly down her nose as she started studying his face, trying to find anything wrong with him visually. Taking a step back away from her, he bumped into another person, and turning to look at them saw it was a Pakistani man barely taller than himself, putting a stethoscope to his back and listening to his heartbeat, which was slowly starting to rise from stress.

“Guys, please, stop! I just want to go talk to Captain Man. In private!” And with that, he quickly removed himself from the reach of the doctors and vaulted up the stairs, only vaguely tripping on the coat once as he tried to take too many stairs at once. As soon as he was out of sight of the crowd and the door was closed, he allowed himself to slow down and leant against the wall, letting out a frustrated yell/shriek, voice breaking halfway through.

Gathering his cool again, Henry walked the short distance to Ray’s bedroom, feeling unsure as he’d never been allowed in there before. A quick knock and the door opened to reveal a room that contained an honestly ridiculous number of mirrors and Captain Man posters, including a limited edition holographic one. Henry breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the bedding was a normal red set, rather than the one of Captain Man and Kid Danger that Henry had had to witness Ray purchase when they were out as civilians. On the bedside table sat a glass of water and a tub of multivitamins. Ray was sat at the vanity, scrolling though his phone, chuckling.

“Hey, Man,” Henry edged his way in and shut the door behind him.

“Oh, hey Henry. What did you want to talk to me about?” Ray asked, looking up at him briefly and, seeing Henry in such a large coat with a serious expression on his face, turned around to give him his full attention.

Henry went and sat on the armchair near the closet door, removing a pile of Captain Man comic books, placing the large coat over the back of it.

“So, you know how everybody thinks that hypermotility is some super serious disease and that the lightning fast reflexes are just a symptom because of that tweet yesterday? And how I get angry when I don’t sleep enough. And how Piper is, like, obsessed with Kid Danger???” He started, really not wanting to tell Ray but know that he should.

“I do not like where this is going.”

“It’s not as bad as you think, but is still kinda bad. Basically, I lost my temper and told my family that I have hypermotility. To make them think I’m not Kid Danger, I told them that I was in the back alley from Junk ‘n’ Stuff, trying to get Piper an autograph and a bad guy shot us with a laser that is now destroyed and it rewrote my DNA and gave us superpowers.” Henry rushed out. Fortunately for Ray, he had had practice understanding Henry when he was nervous so had no trouble following along.

“You did WHAT!?” Exclaimed Ray, standing suddenly and sending the chair flying behind him. Half a beat later and he was pacing in front of the vanity. “What have I told you about keeping these things secret! You’re lucky your family is so gullible! But if they tell anybody then your secret identity is almost definitely ruined. I am so close to firing you right now!”

At that moment Henry’s phone went off, a shrill beeping noise of an alarm.

“Shit, sorry. Just an alarm to tell me to meet up with Charlotte,” Henry quickly explained as he turned it off.

“CHARLOTTE!!”

“Wait, what?”

“I didn’t tell her or Jasper not to come into work! They will be here soon.” Ray’s pacing had increased and now he was rubbing his hands together nervously. “You phone Jasper, I’ll call Charlotte. Tell them not to come down into the Man Cave under any circumstances. They are on shop duty until further notice,” he rushed out, reaching into his belt to get his phone.

“Got it,” Henry nodded dutifully, slightly glad for the momentary distraction before his inevitable firing.

A few clicks and rings later and Henry was connected to Jasper, finger in his ear as to not get distracted by Ray talking to Charlotte. “Hey, bro. What’s up?” Asked Jasper, surprisingly peppy.

“We have a bit of a problem down here. A load of people shipped themselves into the Man Cave and won’t leave. Schwoz is hiding somewhere, but you and Charlotte must not, under any circumstances, come into the Man Cave until we tell you it’s okay. You’re on shop duty, Ray’s orders.”

“Wait, seriously? That’s not good. But I’ll let Charlotte know. What if there’s an emergency, though? Like a tsunami, or an alien invasion?”

“Both of those are equally unlikely. But if either of them happen I’m sure Schwoz will come up with a plan to stop it before it affects us.”

“Y’know what? That’s fair. I should probably get going now, anyway. I’m nearly at the shop and need to get ready to open up.”

“Alright, well, see you later, man.”

“See ya.”

And with that, Henry hung up, turning from his spot by the closet to see Ray had already finished on the phone and was sat back in his chair with his head in his hands, trying to think.

“Umm…Ray?” Henry asked, taking a step forwards uncertainly.

“I am so mad at you right now.” Ray mumbled, not reacting physically in any way.

“I know. I understand. And I’m so sorry. But it’s not like I told them I’m Kid Danger. In fact, I actively said that I’m not going to become a superhero or sidekick or whatever because I can’t fight.”

“I guess that does it make it slightly better, but it was still extremely foolish, and I really don’t know what to do about it. It’s not like I told you not to tell your family you have superpowers, but it was _heavily_ implied.” Ray finally looked up at Henry, looking endlessly tired, as if everything that he’d ever gone through was finally starting to catch up to him.

“Does this mean I’m fired?” Henry asked, wanting to get this over with quickly.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s not like it was part of the oath you made, so I can’t fire you for that. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an extremely dangerous thing to do and I am severely disappointed in you.” Ray sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

The words hurt, but Henry knew that they were true. If his family either put 2 and 2 together or told somebody who did, then his identity would no longer be a secret and he could no longer be Kid Danger.

“But if I fire you now, then things are just gonna get worse. Your family may figure it out easier, the public may decide that it was because of the blasted disease they’re convinced you have. And I don’t think I can deal with any more condolences. The attention is great and all, but the ‘sorrys’ and pitying looks is getting a bit much, even for me. And if one more person asks me how long you have left to live, I think I might just kill you myself just to shut them up.” Ray stood up and reached for the muffin in Henry’s hand, which he let him have, as there was no way he could get it to Charlotte or Jasper now. “I’m kidding, of course. I’d just fire you and tell them you’re dead.” Ray clarified at Henry’s astonished and slightly alarmed look.

“Oh, yeah. That does make more sense. And, to be honest, if this carries on, it sounds like a decent plan. But if we did do that, I’d have to deal with my very smug sister. She’s still convinced Kid Danger is dying, by the way.”

“Even though..? Y’know what? I don’t care. There is already so much going on that I cannot deal with your sister as well.”

“Fair point. So how are we going to deal with these people?” Henry asked, sitting on the edge of Ray’s bed and leaning back on his arms, wanting nothing more than to curl up and actually get some sleep, as he was too uncomfortable to sleep when he got home last night.

“Well, we should first see what people are saying so that we can debunk them all in one fell swoop. Explain that you get heartburn really easily, and that coughing is a side effect. That’s also why you’re tired and stuff. I sent you home early because I wanted to treat you for dealing with stupid people. That thing with the lip and the limp should definitely be reinforced. How did you say you got your powers again? To your family?” Ray said, slipping into his very rare ‘planning mode’.

“I told them I got hit by a laser that was then destroyed. We should probably also say that the bad guy was dealt with and sent back in time or something so no questions are asked there. God, I’m starting to sound like Charlotte,” Henry exclaimed, finally flopping back onto Ray’s bed and star fishing.

“Well that’s what we need right now, and seeing as she’s not here, we’re gonna have to pretend to be her for us.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Do you have Twitflash?”

“Yeah, Jasper made one for me, but I’ve only ever use it once to say that it was me and post a selfie. Why?”

“You really need to use it more often. I’m verified, meaning I have a tick beside my name to tell everyone that I’m really me. Anyway, not the point. You should make a post saying that we’re gonna be doing a live Q&A. That way, people can ask us questions and we can debunk everything. I’ll do the same.”

“Brilliant idea. But first, we should probably get rid of the people in the main room.”

“Oh my god, I forgot about them.” Henry groaned, pulling an amused chuckle from Ray.

“Yup, get ready for more coddling from complete strangers. I’ll go out there and start rounding them up, you drink your drink. And don’t leave your coat in my room. You are never coming in here again, go it?” Ray said, already leaving the room.

“Yeah, got it!” Henry called after him. At that, he groaned and slowly propped himself up, and stared around the room, really not wanting to move. After a solid thirty seconds, he managed to convince himself to stand up and take a swig, before popping one of the multivitamins that were obviously for him (Ray hated blackcurrant flavoured anything), and then finished the rest of the water. Grabbing the coat that was now apparently his, he had a final glance around, scoffing at the utter narcissism that was Ray’s bedroom, and shut the door behind him.

Upon entering the main room, Henry was met with chaos. The LGBT+ group had set up a vegan bake sale inside the Man Cave and were trying to convince the Pakistani doctor to buy something from them. The niece from the fire yesterday had a small gathering of two doctors and a bunch of her friends around her as she was telling a story animatedly that Henry could already tell was exaggeration of the phone her uncle had and the following rescue from the fire, all centred around how “sick” Kid Danger was, the final group containing the last two doctors, who happened to be a set of identical ginger twins, both with their hair tied up in matching ponytails, the enby who had caught his stumble earlier, and the last remaining teenage girls were all surrounding Captain Man and arguing with him and he was trying to convince them to get back into the crate, or at least be put into sacks so they could leave.

Henry just stood there for a moment, taking everything in in mild amusement and irritation, really not wanting to get involved with any of this. Unfortunately for him, the bright colouring of his uniform did not allow him to blend in to his surrounding and he was quickly spotted by the young man with a colourful mohawk and yellow, pink, and blue tie-dye hoody by the temporary stall.

“Kid Danger, do you want a vegan brownie? They’re really good!” He called, grabbing one as he passed the front of the stall, making his way over to him. This got everybody else’s attentions.

“No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, though. In fact, if you could wrap up two, that’s be great. I have some frien-“ at the sharp look that Ray gave him, he cut himself off, “Just leave two on the table, thanks,” he instead said, sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I was thinking about it earlier, but after today, you are so fired,” Ray said, frowning at him.

“What?! No! You said you wouldn’t!” Henry exclaimed, distraught.

“This is twice in an hour, Kid! If I cannot trust you to keep you personal and your professional lives separate then I cannot trust you to be my sidekick anymore,” He explained, walking towards him with his hands on his hips, a severe frown on his face.

“What happened to three strikes?” Henry all but begged.

“You weren’t even supposed to have one. And yet you’ve been given two. You know how serious this is. If anything, and that is anything at all, gets out about your personal life or mine, people could be in serious danger. You know this,” Ray was in front of him now, and the entire room had fallen silent, the colourful guy had retreated back to the stall, and the twins and their group had moved to join the group on the circular sofa.

“I know. But why can’t they know have friends? They must know that I have a life outside of Kid Danger. I have seen a lot of forums and stuff dedicated solely to who I am outside of the mask!”

“KID!” Ray all but shouted in exasperation, “You cannot confirm these things to anyone! And you just did! In front of a _very large_ group of people! As far as the general public are to know, you live in the Man Cave, you study here, you only know me and nobody else. You have no connections to the outside world. If you weren’t fired already, you definitely would be now.” He shook his head in disappointment.

Henry felt awful. Even just thinking about it slightly he realised how much he had fucked up. And three times in an hour. Yeah, being fired was a given at this point. A small part of him was glad, realising that if it was easy to slip up this many time when he was just a bit tired, then what would happen if he actually got sick, was exhausted, or was under a lot of stress.

“I guess you don’t want to do the livestream anymore?” Henry asked, trying to change the subject to stop himself from mulling over how he was feeling.

“No. We will not be doing a livestream. You are to leave immediately and not come back.”

“Can we at least stay friends?” He was trying hard to keep his emotions in check, but it was becoming difficult. His chest felt tight, his face was burning, and the pressure behind his eyes told him just how close he was to crying.

Ray just looked at him for an awkwardly long time. Finally, he sighed, “I don’t know, Kid. Right now, I’m too mad to think properly, but I do still care about you. But you cannot be Kid Danger any longer.”

“I understand,” Henry’s voice was heavy with unexpressed emotion. Reaching into his belt, he pulled out his gum tube. He took one out and put in his pocket, before handing the tube to Ray, who took it silently.

As Henry made his way through the stunned crowd, and into the tube, he heard Captain Man say, “And the rest of you. I’m going to a quick walk to cool off. By the time I get back, I expect you all to be back in the box. And you will say nothing about this to anyone. If anybody asks, the only thing you will tell them is that Kid Danger is dead. They do not need to know the specifics. It’s easier this way.”

Henry felt the pressure build behind his eyes and a small tear escaped, getting stuck in the eye hole of his mask. With one final “up the tube,” Kid Danger was gone.


	5. Henry Cries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The emotions finally catch up with Henry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently I needed to write angst, so this is here to facilitate that. As I said before, there is literally no planning that goes into writing a chapter. I just sit down to write and things happen. It is currently 2:37am and I haven't even had a shower yet, now anything to properly eat. So that's my excuse for everything that happens here.

Up in the box filled alley, the only noises to be heard were that of the distant cars from the street and the soft sobbing of a teenaged boy who’d just lost his dream job and the best part of his life. Upon getting to the top of the tube he had popped his final piece of gum, and them dropped both his watch and his laser remote down the tube, hoping they would return to the Man Cave in one piece. Now, he was sat on the piece of “cardboard” that covered the entrance, engulfed in a too big, bright blue coat, sobbing his heart out, safe in the knowledge that nobody would find him here.

_I’m so fucking stupid! Why did I tell my family! Why couldn’t I have just kept my cool? Why did I have to say such revealing things in front of so many people? Since when did I get so complacent in my handling of my secret identity? Why couldn’t I have just kept my mouth SHUT!”_

By this point, the sobbing had become louder and harsher, breaths coming faster and more erratically.

“Hello? Is anyone down here?” called a voice, vaguely familiar, though Henry couldn’t identify it, nor could he calm down enough to respond.

“Hello? Are you okay?” the voice called again, getting closer. Footsteps joined the voice, along with the unmistakable sound of small plastic wheels rolling along concrete.

Henry quickly struggled to cover his face in the hood of the overly large hood, not wanting anybody to be able to identify him if they saw him.

As soon as the footsteps rounded the corner, the person stopped for a second before the voice of the woman from not even an hour ago asked, “Kid Danger?”

Henry curled up in on himself more, leaning so that his head was facing the wall he was leaning against and his arms were covering the entrance to the hood. He didn’t want this woman seeing his face, under any circumstances. “D-*breath*-d-*breath*-do-on’t look at m-me!” He tried to say, but breathing was too hard, let alone talking.

The footsteps were rushing towards him now, and a presence found it’s way beside him, though not touching him.

“Shit, Kid Danger, are you okay?”

At that, Henry lost what little control he had still managed to have and completely unravelled. Without thinking, he leant into the strangers arms and buried his head into the crook of her neck as her arms curled around him. He was sobbing so loudly that he knew that he would lose his voice later. The woman started rocking him slightly, kneeling in a way that her large body surrounded his thin one with ease and protected him from the outside world. Her right hand started stroking his head through the hood, while with her left, she managed to manoeuvre him into a more comfortable position.

“Shhh, shh, shh. It’s okay. You don’t have to talk, just let it all out.” She comforted, pulling his head so it sat comfortably under her chin. At this point, Henry was wrapped completely up in the embrace of the stranger who had given him the coat earlier, jeans and converse visible below him, upper half completely covered by the coat and hood. And arms were tucked in front of him, holding the hood down. His chest started to feel like it was burning from lack of oxygen.

“C-c-c-*breath*-can’t breath!” He managed to get out.

“Okay. Okay, I can sort that out. What I want you to do is copy my breathing okay. I will breath loudly for you so you can hear me through the hood. There we go,” and she started to take large, steady breaths, obviously staying to some kind of internal rhythm or counting. Before long, the Henry’s breathing was under control, though the tears were still falling.

“Thank you,” was all he could whisper, energy completely zapped.

“Of course, it’s the least I can do,” she whispered back, pulling back slightly with the intention to look at his face, before he grabbed her by the front of her jacket and pulled her back in.

“No. Can you please just hold me for a bit? I think I might get bad again.” Henry mumbled, voice raw from the continuous crying.

“Of course. Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” She immediately settled back down, wrapping him completely in her arms again as if he were a little boy and it was a completely natural thing for her to do.

Henry shook his head slightly, still keeping the majority of his focus on the woman’s breathing and heartbeat, trying to block out his own thoughts and feelings.

“That’s fine. I know how it feels. I used to have severe anxiety and depression when I was a teenager. And sometimes everything builds up so much that you just have to let it out. It’s completely normal. My therapist told me that bottling up your emotions can actually cause brain damage and that crying allows you to release you emotion hormones through your tears. I’m not sure if I remembered that correctly, but it sounds about right.”

Henry nodded, listening intently to her soothing voice, wanting her to continue talking so he had something to focus on. “Please keep talking?” he mumbled, slightly embarrassed to want such a thing, but realising that this lovely stranger probably wouldn’t mind.

“Okay then. Well, you know that this coat belonged to my ex, so how about I tell you about him.” And she did. For an entire twenty minutes the stranger who Henry had never met before today told him about a man named Jason who she had met in a coffee shop six years ago. He learned that they had planned on getting married and having kids, moving to the countryside, and carrying on her family’s farm business when her parents retired. But then she got pregnant and he suddenly became a lot more distant. Until, a few months ago, she found him with another guy in their bed, completely shameless, and told her that he wanted to break up because he found someone better. She told Henry about how she was furious and had kicked him out. Not because he was bi, she assured him, but because he was cheating on her with someone she knew personally, almost like a brother, or so she thought. She ended up telling him about how she’s been gradually getting rid of his belongings, and todays bag was the last lot. She told him about how her son was only a year old and was currently asleep in his pram against the wall. Eventually, when she had nothing else to say, but the tears were still coming, she started describing what she saw to him.

Eventually, after an entire half an hour of non-stop crying, Henry was finally calm enough to pull away, though he didn’t particularly want to.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said, pulling away, head down, to lean against the wall again, face still hidden.

“There is no need to apologise. As I said, I understand. I’m guessing that you’re not in uniform and that’s why you don’t want me to see your face. But you’re going to need a drink before you go anywhere,” she said, as she reached into the bag that was hanging off the back of the pram, and handing him a water bottle. “Will you be okay on your own? Is there anyone I can contact, or at least an anonymous number I can text to let someone know where you are?”

Henry took the bottle and carefully took a swig, keeping his back to her as he did so.

“I’m okay, thanks. I’m absolutely exhausted and have very little energy, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. Thank you.” He sighed, resting his head against the wall again and closing his eyes. “What’s your name, by the way? I don’t think I caught it.”

“Parvati,” she responded, “After my grandmother. Though my Indian blood runs a little thin,” the smile could be heard from her tone.

“Parvati. That’s a wonderful name. I’d tell you mine, but we both know we can’t do that. Sorry for taking up so much of your time.”

“Nonsense. I had nothing else planned anyway. You’re better now, and Jamie is still asleep. I count that as a win.” Henry could hear the sound of her unlocking the breaks from the pushchair and zipping the bag back up. A bit more rustling as soon a breakfast bar was placed in front of him.

“Look, I don’t want to presume anything, and I am pretty sure that this is just a place you found yourself in. But in case it’s not and you ever need a place to stay, if you go to the local library and ask for me, I should be there. I won’t tell anybody anything if you do. And I know that you’re dead against going to the hospital, and you keep saying you’re 100% fine, but if you ever do find yourself there, I’ve written my number on the bottom of the wrapper and I will help you pay for the bill. I’m not short on money. It’s the least I can do,” she said with such conviction in her voice that Henry couldn’t find it in himself to turn her down.

“Thank you. I will keep this in mind. I will try to find a way to pay you back for your kindness,” Henry mumbled, sleep pulling at him as he struggled to stay awake at least until Parvati had left.

“Nonsense. You do good things and deserve to have the favour returned sometimes. Remember to be kind to yourself and get your energy up before going anywhere. Goodbye, Kid Danger.” And with that, Parvati was nothing but a retreating set of footsteps, until she wasn’t even that.

“Just five minutes,” Henry mumbled to himself, giving up the fight as he felt himself being pulled into the oblivion of an energy drained sleep.


	6. Things Start Falling Into Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray goes full 'Dad mode', and Henry and the gang do some research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was interrupted so many times while writing this. But I refuse to go back and edit it. It is how it is and that is how it's going to stay.  
> This is, again, mainly a therapeutic thing that I've started doing before I go to bed to help me relax and reduce my anxiety.

*Bzzt*

A soft vibrating emerged from back pocket of Henry’s jeans.

*Bzzt*

The buzzing was coming quicker, almost more frantic as it dragged him from the comforting embrace of sleep. A deep, foul tasting breath allowed Henry to lift his head and look around him. The sun was a lot higher in the sky, condensation had started to gather or him and the water bottle still gripped loosely in his hand. The breakfast bar was still sat where Parvati had left it, number still clear on the back.

After rubbing his eyes and removing the heavy sleep and stickiness from his face as best as he could, Henry finally sat up from the slouched position he had woken up in, undid the large coat, and reached into his back pocket, grabbing his phone and clumsily unlocking it.

He was being bombarded with texts from Charlotte, Jasper, and he even spotted a few from Ray. Without even checking to see what the texts were saying, he sighed and went to Charlotte’s contact, hitting ring and putting it on speakerphone, resting it on his lap and leaning against the wall again, really not wanting to move.

“Henry?” Charlotte picked up after the first ring, “Where are you? Why haven’t you been seeing our texts? Are you okay? You had us so worried!” She was frantic, from the sounds of it. How long had he been asleep?

“Hi, Charlotte. I’m in the alley next to the shut-down tailors a few blocks from the store. Ray knows where it is.” Henry responded, a feeling of dread and guilt starting to grow deep within him. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Charlotte could be heard parroting them to somebody else on the other end of the call, until she directed her attention back to him again, sounding a lot of calmer.

“Ray told us what happened and feels kinda bad. You’re still fired though,” she informed him, “he’s gonna do a livestream later telling the world that Kid Danger is dead. We were supposed to be hashing out the details now.”

“Oh. Okay,” was the only response he had for that, really not having the energy to think of anything else. The numbness that usually followed a massive cry was starting to kick in.

“Seriously. Are you okay? We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last two hours. Ray set out a while ago to go find you, scared that you’d done something stupid. Do you want to tell us what happened?” As she said this, there was a slight click, and the sound of faint panting could be through the phone.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” tears were starting to form in his eyes again, though the accompanying emotions seemed to be absent, like his body was reacting for him while he sat in the back of his mind and hid from the emotions themselves, “After I got out of the tube I kinda broke down. I guess I haven’t been dealing with things as well as I thought and being fired was the last straw. But a nice lady found me and helped me. She knew I was Kid Danger, but I didn’t let her see my face. She also saw me earlier in costume. If Ray is gonna tell everyone Kid Danger is dead then he needs to make sure they say it happened today, otherwise she might tell everyone how she saw me alive. This really sucks. I want to continue being Kid Danger,” Henry stated, completely monotone, but tears falling again.

“I know, Kid. I’m so sorry. But I cannot trust you to keep your secret anymore. You told you family, you let slip too much in front of strangers.” Ray’s voice replaced the panting slightly, sounding as if he had been running for a while but was still going despite that.

“Ray?” Henry asked, slight surprise managing to reach him in his numb haze.

“Schwoz managed to patch his earpiece into the phoneline, allowing us all to talk,” Charlotte piped up.

“Oh, cool,” Henry said, surprise fading and posture slumping back down against the wall again, “why are you looking for me? Shouldn’t you be planning the livestream?”

“You disappeared. When Jasper tried to call you after I told them you’re fired, he couldn’t reach you. We all tried and couldn’t get a hold of you. When we asked Piper if you got back home, she said she hadn’t seen you since that morning. We got worried, and it would make sense for a superhero to go looking for a lost person when so many people were looking for them, so that’s what I’m doing.” Ray huffed, audibly slowing down to a walk.

“What he means to say is that he was really worried and wouldn’t stop pacing so we sent him out to look for you,” Charlotte interrupted what he was about to say next, amusement touching her voice.

“Yeah, it was getting annoying and he wouldn’t stop saying ‘c’mon, Kid’ as if that would work,” Jasper’s faint voice came next, pulling a slight smile across Henry’s when he realised that they were all there, making sure he was okay.

“Well, I’ve been asleep for the past…what time is it now?” Henry asked, energy very slowly returning as he took a large gulp of water.

“1 pm ish” Jasper answered.

“Okay. So, left at half nine-ish, Parvati found me about ten minutes after that, then left about half an hour after that. So, I’ve been asleep for about three hours. I didn’t sleep last night and then crying lots and it drained what little energy I had. I’m still exhausted. I still haven’t moved.”

“Why didn’t I check there first?” Huffed an annoyed Ray, “Schwoz, why didn’t you tell me to check the pipe entrance first?!”

“Because I assumed you were smart enough to do that on your own!” Came the distant voice of Schwoz over the phone, “Obviously, I was wrong.”

A smattering of chuckles escaped the teens, just as the footsteps over the call were double around the corner of the alley, along with a stiff, “Yes, hello citizen. I do not have time for a selfie right now. Next time, yes,” from Ray.

“Wait, you actually came out looking for me as Captain Man?” Henry asked, sitting up slightly.

“Yes, I thought we established that,” Ray’s voice echoed from both the alley and the phone, though Henry still made no effort to move anywhere.

“Oh, I thought you were joking.” Just as he said that a slightly ruffled looking Captain Man appeared around the corner of the alley and stopped short before rushing to his side at almost hyper speed.

“Shit, Kid!” Ray said, reaching to clutch his face and check him over, thumbs wiping away the excess tears.

“I’m fine, get off me,” Henry said half-heartedly, making only the slightest attempt to move out of the way, secretly enjoying the attention and comfort.

“You look like shit! Please tell me you’ve at least had a drink. You look really dehydrated,” Ray was still checking him over, gloved hands pushing the hood back to get a better look at his face. At no obvious sign of harm, he visibly relaxed.

“Yeah, Parvati gave me a bottle of water. See?” Henry said, holding the aforementioned bottle up to show him.

“Yeah, and you’ve hardly had any. No wonder you have no energy. You are going to drink that entire thing right now.” Ray admonished, sitting on his heals and wagging his finger.

“Alright, _Dad_ ,” Henry said with a grin, taking a few large gulps. Laughter could be heard from the other side of the phone.

“Don’t you ‘Dad’ me! I’m old enough to be your brother, at most!” squawked an indignant Captain Man, only to be met with more laughter and a “sure thing” from the rest of the Man Gang. “And to think I was worried about you!”

“Are, you care about me. That’s nice!” Henry said sarcastically, starting to feel a lot more human again.

Ray’s annoyance left immediately. “Of course, I care about you, Kid. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

“I wasn’t going to,” the response was met with a lot of ‘aww’s from Henry’s phone. “Oh, shut up, you three. I know you care about me too. I also care about you. Let’s suck it up, okay?” Ray just raised an eyebrow at that, “So, what are we going to do now? I’m fired, so we can’t go back to the Man Cave, and somebody saw you come in here as Captain Man, so you can’t leave as Ray,” Henry asked, genuinely curios as to Ray’s plan, if he even had one.

“So…. I didn’t think this far ahead, to be honest. I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay. I can walk you back home, if you like. Or…well…. I never said that you can’t come back to the Man Cave- “

“Yes, you did. I distinctly remember you saying that”.

“-shut up. I never said that you can’t come back to the Man Cave, only that you can’t be Kid Danger anymore.”

“But we both know it would be too tempting to let me put the suit back on. I’m not an idiot. So, I think I’m just gonna go back home and maybe get some sleep in an actual bed.” Henry sighed, shifting into a position that would make it easier to get up, “but I can’t tell my family I’ve been fired the same day that Kid Danger is reported dead, so I’m gonna need to figure something out for that.”

“You could always take it turns with me up in the shop,” Jasper piped up, reminding both Ray and Henry that they were listening on the conversation.

“That’s not a bad idea, actually. You can take it in shifts,” Ray agreed, “And then, you won’t be in the Man Cave, so there won’t be any temptation for you to put on the suit. But if we get robbed, you can take them down before I’m needed there. Also, if you slip up again in the future, I can fire you for real.” The last bit was delivered with a very stern look, accompanied with a very sharp point, letting Henry know that he wasn’t joking.

“Are you sure? Are you seriously very sure?” Henry asked, hope flooding him. If he was on his very best behaviour, he might eventually be allowed back as a sidekick.

“Yes. Now come here, before I change my mind,” Ray stood and bent down to take Henry’s weight as he stood up himself, which he allowed as he felt like his entire body was made of jelly. Henry quickly hung up the phone and put everything into the deep pockets of the coat. A quick step, and Henry was leaning heavily on Ray, the previously ignorable pounding in his head coming full force and causing him to groan at the sudden rush of pain that shot from his neck up through his head directly to his eyes. _Great. Tension headache. Just what I needed._ Henry groaned audibly, leaning his head against Ray’s arm, wanting nothing more in that moment that to curl up in a dark blanket fort and sleep for the next decade. “You okay, Kid?

“Yeah. Just a tension headache from crying. It’s normal. Though I could really do with some painkillers,” Henry said, straightening himself up and stretching, fighting his legs to carry his own weight.

“Oh yeah, those sucks. And I’m guessing you’re all jelly as well. You can lean on me, if you like. I really don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” and with that, Henry was leaning back against Ray, with the older man’s arm wrapped around his shoulder like a protective barrier. By the time they got to the turning in the alley, Ray was already huffing in annoyance at Henry’s slow speed and stopped, turning towards the adolescent.

“Com’ere,” was the only warning Henry got before he was scooped up like a child and was being carried, hood placed back on his head, knowing that questions would be asked if people saw him being carried by Captain Man and he was identifiable. All he could do was wrap an arm around Ray’s neck and used the other to clutch onto the hand under his knees.

“There are so many better ways to do this, bro!” Henry exclaimed, but secretly enjoying being held like this since his toddler years.

“Yep. Well, this is the way I’m doing it, so deal with it. Unless you want me to leave you here to make your way back on your own.”

“Nope, yep. I’m fine with this. Just don’t drop me.”

“I wouldn’t drop you, unless you gave me a reason to. Like bitching,” Ray said, looking down at him sternly for a second before looking back up where he was going and manoeuvring around the last of the boxes.

“Sorry. Yeah. Okay, shutting up, now,” Henry mumbled as they left the alley, quickly double checking that the hood was down again, and relaxing into the hold, focussing on Ray’s heartbeat as a way of passing the time and keeping his mind off the stupid things he’d done in the last 24 hours.

It was only after fifteen minutes of walking and not being able to see anything but Ray’s chest and the bottom half of his face, Henry realised that he had no idea where they were going, but decided against asking, not particularly caring for the idea of having to walk the rest of the way himself. Instead, he settled himself further into the hold and started to seriously consider going to sleep. Unfortunately for him, Ray noticed and shook him awake gently, not wanting to accidently drop him.

“Stay awake, Kid. We’re nearly there,” He said, voice soft to avoid catching the attention of passers-by who Henry knew for a fact were probably gawking at the sight of Captain Man carrying an unidentified person like it was a completely normal thing to do.

Not long after that, the sound of the street and other people completely disappeared, and Henry was lowered to the ground. Looking around, the first thing he noted was the dirty red back door to Junk ‘n’ Stuff with the faded _Restricted Entry_ sign barely hanging onto the last screw that kept it in place. The next thing he noticed was Ray reaching into his uniform and pulling out his gumballs before popping one and becoming Ray Manchester again.

“Why here?” asked Henry, finally shucking off the too hot winters coat and slinging it over his arm.

“Because I’m still gonna need a good story about how Kid Danger died and I thought you’d want a hand in it. But you can totally go home if you want to.” Ray said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a keychain, before unlocking the door and holding it open for Henry.

Stepping through, they found themselves in the back room of the shop, lift to their right and the front part of the shop just through the curtain.

“Nah, dude. I’ll stay. But why did it take so long to get here?” Asked Henry, hanging the large coat on one of the many hooks lining the wall, vowing to never wear it again unless absolutely necessary, “You can have this, by the way. It’s far too massive for me.”

“I’m good. It’s because we had to go the long way around and I didn’t want anybody following us. Plus, Captain Man and Kid Danger are known for walking into random back-alleys and then disappearing, so I thought we’d be safe doing that here, this once.” Ray said, locking the door behind them again.

Heading into the front room, Henry immediately spotted Jasper, who was leaning reading a magazine at the front desk, and Charlotte, who was pacing on her phone at the front, circling the big table in the middle. As soon as she spotted him, she lifted her phone up and snapped a probably very unflattering photo and sent it off to whoever she was texting. Immediately after it was sent, she rushed over to him and wrapped him in a long hug. Henry could feel her muscles slowly relax around his waist as the last of her tension and worry left her. Before he could fully prepare himself when Charlotte let go, Jasper was in his place, squeezing just a little tighter than was comfortable.

“Yup. Hey guys, sorry for worrying you. I didn’t mean to not answer any of your texts,” Henry apologised, feeling his face burn slightly and looking down in shame.

“You’re forgiven, for now. But know that I will be holding this against you in the future,” Charlotte said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Agreed, and when you start getting annoyed at either of us for not replying, we retain full rights to telling you to go sod off,” Jasper added, taking a step back and joining Charlotte.

“Understood,” Henry said, making his way past them and flopping on the sofa by the dinosaur head, “Who’d you send the picture to, Char?”

“Piper, she was worried and was starting to get a load of people into a big search party to look for you. Apparently, your mum is going bonkers with worry and your dad won’t stop pacing in front of the TV. They should be fine, now.” At that moment, her phone pinged and lit up with a message. “That’s Piper now. She says she’s glad you’re okay and to give you a hard slap for making your parents get on her nerves, but why do you look so terrible,” Charlotte relayed, getting ready to type the response.

“Just tell her that the last few months have caught up with me and I had a bit of breakdown. Best not lie to her. She can make her own conclusions from that,” Henry supplied, taking his own phone out to send a couple of pacifying texts to his parents, hoping that would do it for now.

“Alright. Now that that’s sorted, what are we going to do about this livestream?” Ray, clapped his hands once and brought the attention to himself once again.

“We should probably leave it a couple of hours, seeing as you were just seen out and about. Maybe declare it on both of your Twitflash accounts, saying it’s Captain Man making the announcements. I’d 5 pm is a good time to have it. Most people will be finishing work by then, meaning they can ask question directly to you if they want to,” Charlotte said, getting straight to business.

“Nice plan, but what story are we going to tell?” Jasper asked, leaning against the centre table and folding his arms in thought.

“How about this,” Ray and Henry said at the same time, before looking at each other and holding out their hands in a ‘you go first’ kind of way.

“How about this,” repeated Ray, “we tell everyone they were right all along and that Kid Danger just didn’t want people to know or worry.”

“Yeah, but adding onto that, how about we scan social media and see what they’re saying right now and then build off the rumours,” Henry added, starting to enjoy the planning, though not really what it was about.

“Great idea,” Ray clicked his fingers, “Charlotte, you check Twitflash, Jasper, you check the streaming platforms, see what people are saying there, Henry, you check Envygram. I’m pretty sure you can’t accidently post something from an account you don’t have,” he gave Henry a meaningful look, before turning back to the back room. “I’m gonna get Schwoz to help me set up a cross-platform livestream. I’ll see you chuckleheads up here in an hour, hopefully with a fully fleshed out story and list of possible questions that people might be asking.” And with that, he was gone down into the Man Cave.

With a collective groan, the three teenagers all crowded together on the sofa, Jasper grabbing a notepad and pencil on the way over. It didn’t take long for any of them to find something. There were multiple pictures from different angles of Captain Man carrying Henry through the streets, a severe look on his face. There was even a short video of Captain Man shifting his grip and whispering “Stay awake, Kid. We’re nearly there,” to him. Many people were asking who it was that was being held, and many were theorising that it was Kid Danger out of uniform, and that’s why he could be seen wearing jeans and converse, and why his face was covered by the hood. Somebody mentioned how the probably Kid Danger’s body language looked weak. That comment lead to more comments and discussions about how Kid Danger was actually really sick and probably was dying at this very moment. That particular comment caused Henry to let out a cynical snort, and quickly wrote it down.

According to some streamers that Jasper was watching (at full volume just to prove the point that Henry wasn’t allowed to be annoyed at him), Kid Danger had actually been sick for a while and was only just getting worse now due to stress from people finding out and constant crime fighting. The reason he didn’t want anybody to know was because he didn’t want people to worry or treat him differently. She then went on to talk about how the coughing and chest pain yesterday was actually a lot worse than Kid Danger was letting on and he was actually very close to death. That’s why Captain Man let him leave early the previous evening. Apparently, the limp was a part of it but Captain Man obviously had some kind of device that fixed it, and the swollen lip was taken down by anti-inflammatory gel.

By the time the fifteen minute video was over, all three friends were crowded around the phone and laughing at the complete conviction that the young woman spoke the lies and half-truths, while still writing notes about the things that could be used.

By the time the hour was over, the three had come up with a fully fleshed out story. Now they just needed to tell Ray.


	7. Plans Are Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Man Gang comes up with a plan

“Ahem,” the sound of Ray clearing his throat caught the attention of the three previously engrossed teens who had all been huddled around a notebook with multiple strewn pages scattered around them on the floor and sofa. “This is quite the mess you’ve made here. So, what’s the story?” he asked, making his way through the mess of papers, not caring what he stood on. The three teens looked at each other.

“Well, we’ve decided that Kid Danger has actually been sick for a while but didn’t want anybody to know because it’s irreversible. It was caused by a laser beam that changed his DNA and he took the brunt of it. The laser was destroyed and the bad guy,” started Charlotte.

“Who we decided to call DNAniac,” interrupted Jasper.

“No, we didn’t,” huffed Henry in annoyance.

“-and the bad guy,” Charlotte continued, slightly louder this time, “was sent back to the crustacean period, meaning there’s nothing to worry about anymore. It started off with lightning fast reflexes, then came random uncontrollable vibrating, and lately, an occasional limp, until recently chest pain and coughing, with complete lack of energy and heart failure being the last things. The bee was still just a bee. He didn’t want anybody to know as it would cause them to treat him differently and not let him save them as easily. He died at 2:23 pm today, so a few minutes from now, after his heart and lungs stopped working properly. He degraded quickly and was found in an alley barely alive. That way, Parvati won’t have any cause to doubt the story and spread rumours that he’s okay. Kid Danger died peacefully in his sleep. That way people are not going to be too upset and will mostly likely feel smug with the fact that they were ‘right’.” Ray nodded along, for once fully paying attention to every word being said and absorbing it completely.

“Perfect. So, is there anything else you guys have thought of? Henry, you should have a say about this. If there’s anything you want me to say out loud, to the public, about you, this is the only chance you’re gonna get.”

Henry nodded for a second, thinking.

“Well, you’re gonna need to be convincing. Crying and sombre and all. No smiling at all. If you must smile or laugh for whatever reason, you must look away from the camera and cover your face. I would like it if you said some nice things about me, though. About how you couldn’t have asked for a better sidekick and how I’m super cool and you’re gonna miss having me around. That would be nice,” A cheeky grin was making it’s way onto Henry’s face as he started thinking of all the things he had always wanted Ray to say about him.

“I can do that. So, at 3 pm I’m gonna send a tweet from both of our accounts saying that there’s gonna be a cross platform livestream from the official Captain Man accounts. Then, I want you to all, yes even you, Henry, to help me tidy up the Man Cave. While we do that, I want you to teach me the story you’ve come up with. After that, I want you to all head home and keep an eye on social media. I’m gonna have Schwoz help me with the livestreams, but if any of you spot any good questions that I haven’t, I want you to send them to me.”

“Alright,” Henry said, standing up and reaching out a hand towards Ray, “I’ll log into Kid Danger’s account on your phone and then delete it from mine. That way, no more mistakes will be made on that part.”

“Good idea, Kid.” Ray handed his phone over, only slightly reluctantly. “You wouldn’t be mad at you if I changed the password so that you don’t ever get tempted, right? Wait, what do I care? I’m gonna do it anyway.” He laughed, and immediately dove into his phone as soon as Henry handed it back.

“Go for it, I guess,” Henry muttered, turning back to his still sitting friends. “I guess we should head downstairs and start tidying, and maybe do a bit of set dressing.”

“Set dressing?” Charlotte asked, curiosity peaked. It was obviously not something that had even crossed her mind.

“Yeah! We want it to look like somebody recently died. We need to make the Man Cave look at least a little hectic, like there was no time to properly tidy up before things went bad,” Henry was getting a little too into this. It felt like one massive prank he was planning to play on the entire town, except it was gonna cause some massive changes and was never going to be revealed as fake, which caused him to feel a little guilty about the excitement.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Jasper jumped up, then, gesticulating wildly, “We can have the Kid Danger mask sat on the table behind Captain Man, maybe your gloves as well.”

“Yes! And we can have the massive coat hanging by the tubes!” Henry added, matching Jaspers energy.

“Some painkillers in a pill bottle and a heat pack!”

“The breakfast bar and water bottle from Parvati!”

“We could shoot the place up to make it look like Captain Man got really angry and destroyed everything!”

That brought everyone up short and blink for a second.

“Um, how about we don’t do that?” Asked Ray rhetorically, leaning over to point a finger at the group, “But the rest would be good. Nothing too much, though. We don’t want to make it look like we’re actually trying, just like it happened naturally.”

“Yeah, but not to agree with Jasper, or anything,” Charlotte started, finally standing as well, “But you are known to destroy things when you’re angry. And just generally not dealing with your emotions very well.” The apologetic face she made at Ray told them just how un-sorry she was for calling him out like that.

“Well! Ow!” He said, recoiling in overdramatic hurt, “I’ll have you know I’m very good at dealing with my emotions! And because I’m so good with dealing with them, I’m going to go down to the Man Cave and deal with them properly right now!” He exclaimed, turning, and stomping to the lift.

“Are you gonna go and shoot things?” Henry called, amused.

“Yes, I’m gonna go shoot things,” Ray retort, flapping his arms about.

“Okay, just make sure everything you hit is in view of the camera for the livestream!” called Charlotte, resulting in an indistinct shout from Ray as he disappeared.

“Well, thank god he’s so overdramatic, but only for this one very specific situation,” Jasper huffed, looking around at the paper all over the floor and starting to pick some up. Without further prompting, Henry and Charlotte joined him.

* * *

After what the teens felt was a safe amount of time, they headed down to the Man Cave, not looking forward to the massive amount of work they knew they had to do. As soon as the door opened, the smell of smoke that met them caused all three to cough and cover their mouths are noses with their arms.

“What the hell happened, dude?” Henry called, looking around the room trying to spot Ray among the piles of mess. He spotted him next to the giant smoking teddy, holding an empty fire extinguisher.

“He shot the teddy, the dumbass,” Schwoz’s voice said from somewhere among the pile of gifts.

“How was I supposed to know it would catch on fire?” Ray immediately defended, glaring at the large clump of flowers that Henry guessed contained Schwoz.

“It’s pretty flammable, dude. It’s a teddy,” Henry huffed, walking further into the room, closely followed by Charlotte and Jasper.

“Yeah, well. You’re cleaning this all up!” Ray huffed, getting ready to leave the room, before a short beep came from the computer. A heavy sigh, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s get this over with. What do you think the tweet should say?” he asked as he walked around the sofa and stood in the middle of the room. The teens surrounded him as Schwoz appeared from among the flowers and quickly hurried to join them.

“Start off with ‘This is Captain Man’,” Charlotte said, as Ray quickly typed. Upon realising that Ray planned on typing thing, she sighed and held her hand out. “How about I type it, that way if there are any spelling mistakes, you can blame me.”

Ray paused for a second and looked at her, expression unreadable, until he finally handed the phone over, “Just don’t do anything else. Especially don’t look at the pictures!”

“Not planning on doing so,” Charlotte responded, getting ready to fill out the rest of the tweet, “So, ‘This is Captain Man,’ what next?”

“How about, ‘at 5PM today I am going to be holding a livestream,’” Jasper said.

“It seems a bit simple. What about, ‘at 5PM a cross platform livestream will take place,” said Henry.

“Good, good. Don’t forget to mention that it’s on all the official Captain Man accounts,” Ray added, pointing emphatically at the phone.

“Okay, got it. Anything else you can think of?” Charlotte asked, waving the phone slightly.

“Yeah, you need to post it on the Kid Danger account. That way, more people are likely to see it,” Henry pointed to the little ‘account’ symbol at the top of the screen.

“Will do, just copying this and sending it. There we go, no going back now.”

Kid Danger @ReallyKidDanger

This is Captain Man. At 5PM a cross-platform Livestream will take place on all official Captain Man accounts @TheCaptainMan

\- 6.8k Retweets - 1.4k Quote Tweets - 51.7k Likes

“Well, you could always make the livestream a Q&A and not mention the whole ‘Kid Danger being dead’ thing,” Piped up Schwoz, causing Ray to jump back in surprise at how to close the short man was.

“Don’t _do_ that!” Schwoz just laughed and walked away. “And we’re not doing that. Henry is forever banned from being Kid Danger and we don’t want people asking too many questions or coming to their own conclusions. It’s best we tell them a story they already sort of believe and stick with it. That was, it won’t be too suspicious.” Ray lectured, following Schwoz around through the sprocket, before popping his head back around the wall to call to the teens, “And I want this room perfect by the time I get back!”

“But what about quizzing you on the story!” Jasper called, placing his arms around his friends shoulders.

“And you forgot your phone,” Charlotte added, shrugging Jasper off her.

“Yeah, c’mon dude. Don’t run away like that. I bet you can do a better job than all of us combined at set dressing,” Henry joined, realising that Ray was very close to running off for an indeterminate amount of time again.

“Ugh! Fine! But I’m only doing it because I want to, and not because you’re making me feel bad and making good points,” he called back as he seemed to physically drag himself back down the stairs and toward the gifts.

“Where are we going to put these, anyway?” Henry asked, starting towards the basket of different types of lollipops and chocolate covered fruits.

“Food, in the auto-snacker. Everything else, bin. Unless you find something you want then you can keep it.”

And with that, the Man Gang (minus Schwoz) tidied the entire main room of the Man Cave, quizzing Ray until he had the entire story memorised and could answer any question they threw his way.


	8. The Livestream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry watches the life-altering livestream with his family

By the time 4:55PM rolled around, Henry could be found sitting on hit sofa, phone in hand, Piper and Siren to his right, Jake to his left, and the TV on to the news where they were going to be broadcasting the livestream for people without internet. It had been agreed on that Jasper would stay behind as nobody would notice if he wasn’t home, and would act as the go between Charlotte and Henry, and Ray so he wouldn’t have to constantly be distracted by his phone.

The internet was going crazy with conspiracy theories, people wondering what was so important for Captain Man to be reaching out so far online, and why he was the one that posted on Kid Danger’s social media, not Kid Danger himself. Many people were saying that Kid Danger was too sick, in hospital, or dead. Others, who had decided to believe Kid Danger when he said he was fine, were coming up with other reason, saying perhaps he was taking a day off, was fired, or perhaps just wanted to be away from the public for now, after everything that had happened over the last few days. The general consensus, though, was to wait to see what Captain Man had to say before coming to their own conclusions.

Just before the livestream was due to go live, Henry shot Jasper a quick message.

**HenREEEEE: hows ray doing with the whole being sad thing**

**Jaspot: hes trying to make himself cry but he keeps looking at the remains of the teddy and bursting out into laughter**

**Jaspot: im kinda scared, ngl**

**HenREEEEE: tell him hes fat and old and my mum would never date him**

**Jaspot: hes blubbering like a little baby. Howd you know thatd work?**

**HenREEEEE: hes really sensitive about how people persieve him. Its usually annoying but it’s a great way to get him to do stuff**

**Jaspot: fair fair. Hes hitting go so I gtg**

Just as the last text came through, the Man Cave filled the screen, Captain Man nowhere to be seen. A gasp escaped Piper at how different it looked from the one time she had been there herself. The circular sofa and table combo was in the centre of the room, opening facing the camera. At the back of it was what little remained of the large teddy, which consisted of the large head with a blaster hole going through its right eye, sat on top of a pile of dust and scraps of burnt fabric, and half an arm flopped onto the table. Hanging off the back next to the teddy was the overly large coat, looking as if it was dumped there and not strategically placed as it had been. Sat on the table itself was an open pill bottle sat next to the empty water bottle and still intact breakfast bar (with Parvati’s number hidden from camera), the Kid Danger mask and gloves were placed carefully within reach of the desk where the camera had been set up. In the distance, the lift door had a very visible blaster hole through it, and one of the tubes had a crack from where it had obviously been punched. One of the overhead lights was off, presumably needing to be replaced. Off at the end of the room, Henry’s Kid Danger boots and belt were tossed on the floor as if they’d been flung off with little care for where they landed. Overall, it looked dramatic, but not intentional to anybody that didn’t know better. Still, Henry knew he had to sell his surprise.

“Oh _shiiit_! What happened there?” He commented.

“Language!” his mum said at the same time as his dad said “Shhhh!”

After an awkward amount of time, Captain Man appeared on the screen. His cheeks and the little skin visible around his eyes were red and puffy, tears were running down his mask and cheeks, and his hair was ruffled from its usually perfectly styled shape. “Oh no,” Henry heard Piper mumble from beside him, while his parents shifted into more engaged positions, closer to their kids.

Captain Man took a couple of deep breaths and shook his arms out.

“Hello everybody. I think the majority of you know why I’m here, but I feel like I should say it anyway.” Another deep breath and a quick scrub of his eyes with a fist, and Ray put on a rather believable, if not slightly over the top, voice wobble. “At 2:23PM today, Kid Danger was declared dead due to hypermotility.” At that he paused, probably to give people time to process what he was saying. Henry expected a reaction from the people around him, but they were sat, motionless, all staring at the screen in complete shock. A slight frown pulled at his lips as he saw Piper’s bottom lip quiver, but no other reaction be forthcoming. Gently, so as not to spook her, he placed a comforting hand on her back.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked softly. As soon as the words left his mouth, whatever was holding her in shock stopped, and she flung herself at him, curling herself into his chest. This sudden movement caused both of his equally stuck parents to become lucid again and they, too, wrapped themselves into the hug, completely engulfing their children.

As this was happening to Henry, Captain Man had burst into ‘tears again’, facing away from the screen and screaming into his fists. The flashing of his earpiece let Henry know that Jasper was probably insulting him again. When he’d calmed down, he spun back around to the camera, looking extremely serious, probably at the insistence of Jasper. Henry was gonna be surprised if Jasper escaped the week without any horrible punishments.

“I know that we told everybody that hypermotility was not a disease and was, in fact, a superpower, but that was at the Kid’s insistence. He didn’t want people treating him differently, as he knew it would make it more difficult for him to save you, as was proven yesterday at the fire.” With a sigh, Ray reached behind himself and gently picked up the mask, running his thumb over the eye holes. “Last year, Kid Danger was out alone and encountered a villain named,” Ray paused and grit his teeth, an angry sigh escaping him as his earpiece flashed insistently, “named DNAniac.” He winced slightly as Jasper likely shouted something in his ear. “She was experimenting with changing people’s DNA and giving them superpowers. Kid Danger took the brunt of the hit while protecting unaware civilians. She was dealt with, sent back in time to the crustacean period, and her laser destroyed beyond repair. At first, nothing happened. But after a few days, Kid Danger seemed to speed up. Every time he dodged a hit, he’d be back in position before I could even blink. It was only after he managed to catch a rocket hurtling towards his face did we realise something was up.” The pride that shone through Captain Man’s mask was visible until he shut his face down again. “Then, about six months later, he started vibrating. At first, it was only his hands when he was nervous. But it soon spread beyond that. I have a very strong memory of sitting with the Kid, watching the new Jumanji, and thinking my phone was buzzing. When I looked over, Kid Danger’s entire body was vibrating and he didn’t stop until he fell asleep. It was that night that I realised that this went way beyond just a superpower. Vigorous tests were done. It was confirmed that Kid Danger would continue to deteriorate as time went on and his body undid itself. If anybody else was hit with the beam, it is unlikely they would have had any side effects, and even if they did show some, the likelihood of being affected to the state that Kid Danger was is extremely low, considering he took the majority of the hit himself.” Ray stopped for a second, probably giving Henry’s family time to absorb the words coming from his mouth, assuring them specifically (though they didn’t know that), that Henry was fine. He put the mask back down and picked up the gloves instead, probably feeling the need to _do_ something.

Henry’s family just squeezed him tighter, though nothing was said.

“Recently, maybe last month, I started to notice that he’d occasionally limp, though not all the time. When I asked him about it, he said that” This time the pause was to put on more waterworks as he most likely imagined the scenario in great detail to make it believable, “he said that…that it felt like his bones were the wrong shape sometimes and that it felt like they were constantly stretching and shrinking inside of him. But it only happened sometimes, like somebody was playing with buttons on his legs making them feel weird. Further testing showed that his DNA was constantly rewriting itself, literally making his bones different sizes.”

As Henry sat and listened to this, he couldn’t help the feeling of disbelief that washed over him that this is the story they had come up with, and people apparently were believing it. A soft “wow” escaped him without permission. His family turned to face him immediately, concern marring their usually happy faces. “Nothing,” he quickly reassured, “just sounds like it must have really sucked, is all.”

The image of Captain Man on the TV continued, though he appeared to be talking to the gloves now.

“After that, the changes started speeding up. He would sometimes be extremely hungry and eat everything in sight,” _wait, what?_ “other times, he would sleep for entire day.” _What?!_ “On one occasion, he had a severe nosebleed that lasted for four hours, but when he was checked over, he still had the correct amount of blood for someone his shape and size.” _No, stop! This was not part of the plan, what are you doing? STICK TO THE PLAN!_ Henry was mentally screaming. By the look of Ray’s earpiece, Jasper was having the same reaction.

Piper caught onto the sudden change from relative calm to a steady panic and removed herself from the embrace slightly. “You okay?”

Henry could only look at her in wide-eyed concern for a moment before shaking himself off and nodding, “Yeah. I’m fine, let’s just watch the rest of this.”

“Last month, Kid Danger started complaining about chest pains. All we could do at this point was keep a fully stocked stash of painkillers and hope. Then yesterday, he started coughing. We knew that he wouldn’t have long, but still, he wanted to pretend like nothing was wrong to the world.” At this point, Captain Man could be seen sobbing again. He reached behind him once more and held the mask and gloves up to his face. The flashing earpiece telling Henry, and Charlotte in her home, that Jasper was once again saying something. It was getting to the bit where he would really have to sell it, otherwise the entire plan would go up in smoke. “This morning, the kid started complaining about being tired and his chest hurting really badly. I sent him on a quick errand, and he forgot to take a coat. When he came back, a group of people had managed to get into the Man Cave by posting themselves in the mail. Kid Danger found me and told me he didn’t think he could be a sidekick anymore. He was holding a coat that he said a kind stranger had given him. When we got back into the main room, we staged a scene of me firing him, and I told him to leave and never come back. I have never regretted something more in my entire life.”

At this point, everyone was openly sobbing, and even Henry felt himself getting choked up, even though he knew it was all one rather impressive tale of make-believe. Ray had genuine tears rolling down his face, though the earpiece was sitting surprisingly lifeless.

“After that, I received a text that simply said ‘Help. It hurts.’ I immediately went searching for him, but I couldn’t find him for so long. When I found him he was barely breathing. I managed to wake him up and brought him back here. He was put on oxygen, but his heart was failing. At 2:04PM he fell unconscious. At 2:17PM his heart stopped beating. At 2:23PM, he was declared dead.” Ray had gone completely monotone by this point, still talking to the gloves. Henry could tell by the look in his eyes that he was imagining it all happening in front of him as though it were real. Everything in him wanted to tell him that he was alive and well, but his arms were being pressed against Piper by the embrace from Jake and Siren, who would notice if he were to move. Instead, all he could do was pray really hard that Jasper would say something to Ray for him. It was only after Captain Man started to shake and cry, did Henry see the earpiece flash ever so slightly. Henry sighed when Ray looked up again. Jake, who had previously been fighting back his tears in some misplaced sense of masculinity, started to openly weep upon seeing the look on Captain Man’s face.

He looked absolutely heartbroken like he’d lost everything that he’d ever cared about. Henry was taken aback. _He does remember I’m still alive, right? He hasn’t bought into the lie he’s telling, right? I don’t actually mean that much to him, do I? Wait. **Do I.**_ Everything seemed to turn to sludge for a moment before a warm feeling started to bloom in the centre of his chest. He quickly ducked his head and hid his face in Piper’s hair as a grin fought its way onto Henry’s face. Ray did actually care about him. What a sick turn!

Another few flashed on the earpiece, and Ray turned his head, as though to look out over the Man Cave. Only the slightest change in the way he held himself told Henry that Jasper had brought him back to reality.

“Kid Danger means-meant,” he visibly winced as he corrected himself, turning back to the camera again, “the world to me. He was family. I am so proud of the person he came to be, and every single densitiesed atom of my being wishes for nothing more than to be able to watch him grow to become the wonderful young man I know he had the potential to be. I couldn’t have asked for a better sidekick and I’m gonna miss having him around.” At that, new, genuine tears started falling from the mask as a look of regret passed over his face. With a sigh, he leaned over and started to look at whatever was on the computer screen. Unfortunately for Henry, he couldn’t move or free his arms to have a look at what was happening on social media himself. He resigned himself to not doing anything for the foreseeable future.

Eventually, Ray looked back up. “I’m not sure how to end this thing, but if any bad guys could decide to just…not commit any crimes for at least a week, that is all I ask, so that we-no, I” he corrected with a shake of his head, “could have some time to adjust. And, police watching this. I will be taking at least a week off short of anything but a world-ending catastrophe.” He finished, before leaning over and the screen went blank.

After a short while, Trent and Mary appeared again, tear streaks ruining both of their makeup. Just as they were about to speak, Siren reached over with the remote and turned the TV off.


	9. Henry's Family Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry has to make sure his family understands that he's not dying and is actually okay. Instead, he opens up a bit and makes them worry about different things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realised haflway through the chapter was too long, so I've split it up in two. This is the first half.

“Are you kids okay?” Asked Siren, leaning around in the hug to get a better look at the faces of her children. Henry lifted his head up to look at her, a purposefully unreadably expression masking his true feelings of warmth that still lingered from the realisation that Ray actually cared about him as a person.

“Yeah, mum. It’s just a lot to take in, is all. I don’t think I’ve fully absorbed it.”

“That’s understandable, honey. If you want to talk to me later, even if it’s gone midnight, feel free.” Siren consoled understandingly, rubbing his shoulder in comfort.

“And even if it’s not about this specifically, you can still come and talk to us at any time. I promise,” added Jake, giving Piper a soft pat on the leg.

Piper, herself, slowly unravelled herself from Henry’s embrace and leaned back against the sofa cushions. Tears were still falling down her face, but she was enough herself again to vaguely point at Henry and mutter “I told you so.”

Henry just grumbled to himself, fully expecting this. Here it comes.

“Are you sure you’re okay. I know what Captain Man said, but don’t think we didn’t notice you tensing up when he started listing symptoms.” Jake said, tone becoming stern as he turned his full body to face him.

“No, yeah. Sorry. It’s just that, I knew some of them, as they were keeping me updated on possible side effects, but I didn’t know a lot of them. It just took me by surprise, is all.” Henry said, the simmering annoyance at Ray for changing the plan reigniting once again.

“Which ones did you know about?” asked Piper, eyeing him carefully.

“The speed, the vibrating, the limping, the coughing, and the chest pain. I guess it’s because those were the most common ones.”

Piper studied him for a moment, but seemed to buy that he was telling the truth and nodded. “Checks out. So, you knew he was dying all along but still kept on saying that he was fine. Why?” She was becoming a little scary, now. Eyes wide and lips pulled back, anger and annoyance pouring from every pore of her being.

“Yeah, good point. Why did you lie to us?” Siren said, glaring at her son accusingly.

“Because Kid Danger told me to. What would happen if the president of the Man Fans knew he was dying. Can you imagine the stress that would have caused? Plus, he didn’t want you to worry in case you found out about my hypermotility. I was just trying to help keep his stress levels down.” A sudden surge of adrenaline shot through him at the realisation that he really hadn’t thought this through. This was gonna be stressful to keep up and he wondered how long it would take for the lie to fall apart.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Jake nodded, but was quickly quietened by the glares of the two women in the house.

“What else have you been lying about, Henry?” Siren questioned, eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

_Well shit._

“Nothing! I swear!” Henry held up his hands in the universal sign of innocence. Immediately, anything else they were going to say seemed to fall from their lips as Piper sat upright and Siren’s eyes widened. Henry felt a soft hand clutch his hand and turned to see the concerned face of his father staring back at him as he clutched his hand. “What? What’s happened?” Henry asked, worried, looking around for any sign of danger.

“Your hands,” Piper said, pointing at his still free hand. Looking over, Henry noticed that it was vibrating from the need to release the adrenaline. Taking a deep breath in….2….3…..4 and breathing out…..2……3…….4, allowed him to gain control of himself a little better, and, as he concentrated on his hands, the before unnoticed tingling that accompanied too rapid movements faded and his hands were still again.

“Sorry. That happens when I’m feeling a lot of emotions,” Henry explained, really not wanting his family to think he’s dying. He didn’t think he could deal with any more of it. “Like right now. It’s usually triggered by bursts of adrenaline, but can also be triggered by extreme sadness, joy, or anger.”

“And how long has this been happening?” Jake asked, giving his hand a squeeze.

Henry really had to think about that. He’d never really given it much thought, before. Just made sure to keep it covered when he was outside of the Man Cave. “Maybe, three months? I’m not entirely sure. It’s been just over a year since the laser beam hit us, but I’ve never really thought about it. I’d never felt such strong emotions as to start vibrating until I nearly got hit by a car then, so I can’t really say.”

That threw his family for a loop.

“You nearly got hit by a _car!_ ” Siren exclaimed, equal parts disbelieving and angry. “What else have you just _decided_ not to tell us?!”

_Shit! I really don’t tell them anything, do I?_

“Umm, I’ve never been to a proper party, I _really_ don’t enjoy cooking, I had a bit of an anxiety break earlier and was comforted by a total stranger, sometimes I can’t sleep at night because I’m scared that if I do, I might miss something terrible happening to any of you and not be able to stop it,” started rattling off, not sure how to stop, “I once accidently bought a nightgown instead of a pyjama top and it’s the comfiest thing I own, I sometimes think about moving out because it gets really loud here a lot and sometimes I can’t deal with it, but whenever the house is silent because people aren’t here, I miss it,” Henry was on a roll now, the joy slowly giving way to the sadness and anxiety that had been building up since he was thirteen and had become Kid Danger, “One time I got jealous of Jasper for being called a hero and decided to save a pet store but nearly got bitten by that really poisonous spider and now I have arachnophobia because of it, I once flew a helicopter as a treat from my boss, I once went without food for multiple days and now the thought of not knowing when I’m going to eat net haunts my every waking thought but I just have to sort of ignore it because I know it’s irrational and we always have food in the house, I’m forever scared that I’m being watched and that I have no privacy, and…um…I think I’d look really hot in eyeliner.”

_Well…….that was a lot. Hopefully there was so much they forget it all???_

“Jesus fucking Christ,” muttered Siren, looking at her son eyes wide and mouth wider. Piper was an almost exact mirror image of their mother. The hand that was still clutching Henry’s was starting to get uncomfortably tight.

“That is a lot to unpack, son,” Jake’s small voice said from over his shoulder, “but I think we should look into perhaps getting you a therapist.”

Panic gripped Henry’s heart.

“NO!”

“What? Why not?” Piper asked accusingly, “you obviously need it.”

Henry didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t go to therapy because he knew he’d either have to lie or reveal his secret identity. If he lied then there wouldn’t be a point in going to therapy, and if he revealed his identity then there was no telling what would happen.

“Just, because no, okay? Or at least let me think about it in my own time.”

A heavy silence fell over the family as none of them knew what to say.

Eventually, Jake broke the silence, letting go of Henry’s hand. “How about this. Tonight, we all sleep down here. I’ll make a pot of my Nan’s famous hot chocolate. Piper, why don’t you load up ChickFlicks and see what movies they have on there. Siren, honey, you can get all the blankets, duvets, and pillows and bring then down here, and Henry, I’d like you to find the comfiest clothes in the house for us all to wear. And I mean comfiest, not appropriate,” he said as he made his way over to the kitchen, shooting a wink at Henry over his shoulder.

All thankful for being given something to do, the rest of the Hart family got to work. As soon as Henry was out of sight of his family, he pulled out his phone and checked his missed messages.

* * *

**CharNado: Hey. How’s your family taking everything?**

**CharNado: Henry?**

**CharNado: Is everything okay?**

**CharNado: I’m assuming you can’t get to your phone right now. Text me when you can.**

**HenRIP: hey char. sorry i didnt answer my family sort of all started hugging me then interigating me. i may have said a lot of things about all the things that made me cry earlier and now we’re having a sleep over in the living room. dads making his hot chocolate. but i didnt tell them anything about kid danger. and im not sure if I was able to convince them that im not dying. this could be a long night.**

**CharNado: Henry, Oh My God. First, what have I told you about grammar and punctuation. Second, this ones all on you. Just make sure you don’t say anything too revealing. And remember, you don’t actually have to tell them anything. If you need to, bring up how Kid Danger is apparently dead and you just want to deal with that, right now. But if you really need me to, I will fake an emergency to get you out of there if you ask.**

Henry’s heart warmed at that, pleased to have such a good friend.

**HenRIP: You’re a gem and I’m so happy I know you. I should probably check on Ray and Jasper then get back to the fam. Ttyl**

**CharNado: I know, ttyl**

* * *

**Jaspot: dude, that was intense. I think ray forgot he was lying for a while there. also, I’m pretty damn sure I’m fired for some of the things I said.**

**Jaspot: I told him that hes a waste of space and that people don’t care what hes got to say and the only thing people like to see of him is his back because it means hes leaving. Im so gonna die.**

**HenREEEEE: holy shit! how are you still alive right now?**

**Jaspot: I dunno. I wanna check up on him but im scared that if I leave the guest bedroom im gonna be murked. but I did also tell him that you are proud of him and that youre still alive and just at home right now. so im not really sure what he thinks of me atm.**

**HenREEEEE: id stay away from him just to be sure. hes like a baby sometimes and doesnt realise his own strength. id come and help you but the family has decided that we’re gonna have a sleepover in the sitting room. i may have opened up about some stuff. can you please keep me updated on whats happening online? i dont think im gonna be able to reach my phone for the majority of tonight.**

**Jaspot: yeah, sure thing, dude. and if you want a distraction just let me know. Ill turn up with a bucket on my foot.**

**HenREEEEE: awesome thanks dude**

**Jaspot: nw**

* * *

**BossMan: Henry. I just wont you to no that the things I sed at the end was true. I am prowd of you and I no that you have so much potenshul. I am glad I no you.**

**DangerMouse: awww, thanks dude! im happy I know you too. i kinda wanted to go over there and give you a hug. you mean a lot to me. youre family to me too.**

**DangerMouse: also, your spelling is genuinely terrible. it shocks me every time and it shouldnt.**

**BossMan: rood but fare. Anyray, whot are peeple seying on the internet?**

**DangerMouse: i havent been able to check. I got surrounded by a family hug then accidently said a lot of things that made them decide I need therapy. we’re gonna be having a family sleep over tonight so i wont be able to get to my phone much.**

**BossMan: Whot the hell did you sey? It can’t hav been that bad, rite?**

**DangerMouse; it was pretty bad. i told them about that time we went multiple days without eating and also the spider and also how sometimes i cant get to sleep cause im worried something bad will happen to them**

**BossMan: I hate to sey it, but I agree with them. You shud go to therapy.**

**DangerMouse: this is not a conversation im having with you right now**

**DangerMouse: also, how come you can spell ‘therapy’ but not ‘should’**

**BossMan: shut up, that’s wy**

**DangerMouse: yup. shutting up now. ive been gone too long and i need to get back to my family anyway.**

**BossMan: OK. Hav fun!**

**DangerMouse: you too. enjoy your week off lol**


	10. Family Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry spends some time with his family.

Henry reached into the very back of his closet where the blue and yellow nightgown hung, hidden behind the rest of his clothes to never be seen by anyone ever. After that, he went into the laundry room to pick up Piper’s massive pink hoodie with cat ears on the hood, a pair of her favourite purple leggings, and her polar bear slipper socks. Then, he went into his parents' room and made a beeline for the closet, feeling awkward being in here when the last time he’d been in here was when he was extremely ill and made a mess everywhere. In there, he found a matching set of fluffy grey pyjamas with pompoms hanging from the hoodies string and a pair of white boot slippers for his mum, and in the wardrobe beside it, a black with purple stitching full body onesie that he had never seen his dad wear ever, and wasn’t even aware he owned. It seemed to be rather large and had a flap on the back on the bottom, with purple claws sewn into the feet and the sleeves. Even imagining his dad wear it was enough to make him laugh, making him decide as the one assigned clothe picking duty, he would make sure Jake Hart would wear this awful thing.

Emerging back down the stairs, he noticed that the sofa had been pushed back and the coffee table now sat against the wall. The sofa cushions and pillows were laid out on the floor, covered in blankets, making a massive makeshift bed. The duvets were piled to the side along side every other pillow in the house. On a tray on the centre of the makeshift bed sat two large pots of hot chocolate, everybody’s favourite mugs, a large bowl of small marshmallows, and a box of store-bought brownies. Piper was stood in front of the TV, scrolling through ChickFlicks, trying to pick a decent movie to start off the night and help lighten the mood. Siren and Jake were stood in the kitchen looking over the pizza place menu hanging on the fridge, with Siren occasionally typing and scrolling on her phone.

“I’ve got tonight’s clothes. And no, you can’t wear something else!” Henry called, alerting them all to his presence as he approached Piper. Before she could react, he dumped the pile of her clothes right on her head, causing her to flail slightly.

“HENRY!” was her immediate reaction as she dropped the remote and ripped the clothes off her head, turning to face him with a furious glare. Sensing the trouble he was in, he quickly ran past her and ducked behind Jake, laughing his head off. Jake just sighed.

“What have we told you about winding your sister up?”

“Not to?”

“So why did you do that?”

“Because it was funny?”

“He’s got a point,” acquiesced a laughing Siren, who quickly dodged the pillow thrown her way by a fuming Piper. The pillow bounced off Jake and landed on the floor.

The three in the kitchen all looked at it and then each other. In a flash of movement, Henry had picked up the pillow and had thrown it halfway across the room, directly at Piper.

It hit its mark.

Within seconds, everybody had rushed to arm themselves and were circling each other, the piles of clothes placed haphazardly on the kitchen counter.

Nobody wanted to be the first to strike, so for a while, all they did was hold their pillows close and wait for somebody to react. When it became obvious nobody would, Piper through the first pillow, directly at Henry, still annoyed at him. Instead of hitting him in the face as she’d intended, he caught it mid-air and now had twice the ammo.

“Oh, shoot!” Piper exclaimed, diving for the pile of pillows to gather a new one.

With a laugh, Henry chucked the pillow back at her and the other at Jake. Both hit their marks with expert precision. Piper picked up the pillow and grabbed another, holding one as a shield and other as though it were a sword, swinging to between targets. Siren dove and wacked Jake in the side with her pillow as he leant to pick up the one off the floor.

Before long, nobody could tell where the pillows were coming from or who they were hitting, but they were all being thoroughly battered, though Henry less than the rest of them.

After a long time of play, the family was out of breath and laughing too much to hit anything. Piper was the first to collapse, laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach to stop a cramp. Then fell Siren, then Jake, until Henry stood victorious above them, two pillows in each hand, doing a victory dance over his fallen opponents.

“I win! I win! Who won! I did! I win! I win!” Henry singsonged, only to be rudely interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “I’ll get it!” he called, making his way over to the door.

On the other side stood a person that Henry recognised as the brightly coloured guy who offered him a brownie in the Man Cave that morning. He was now dressed in a pizza delivery uniform. Henry’s mood instantly dropped, though his baseline was still rather happy.

“Four large pizzas for the Hart family?” He asked, looking up from his tablets and in through the door to the complete chaos that was the sitting room. “What happened in there?”

“Pillow fight, what’s it to you?” Henry said, suddenly defensive, and slightly self-conscious about the fact that he was wearing a nightgown.

“Nothing, just curious. Anyway, are you the Hart family or not?” He asked, his level of boredom showing how little he truly cared.

“Yeah, that’s us,” Henry sighed, holding his hands out, knowing his mum would have prepaid. The guy (whose nametag informed him was called ‘Dalton’) handed over the large boxes and nodded down Henry’s attire.

“Nice nightie. It looks super comfy. Might get one myself,” he said, before leaving without another word.

Henry was left slightly stunned, not sure how to process getting a genuine compliment about something he had been so secretly ashamed about since he got it.

“Are you just gonna stand there all day? Or are you gonna let us eat?” Piper called, getting up from the pile on the floor and making her way over.

“Ah ah ah, young lady,” Jake called, standing up and wagging his finger, “none of us are eating until we’re in the clothes Henry picked out for us.”

Henry snorted, “Are you sure about that?” as he made his way back into the room, closing the door with his foot.

“Yes, I am,” Jake bristled, completely unaware of the amusement radiating off of his son.

“If you say so. Yours and Mum’s piles are over there. Piper, your clothes are sort of,” Henry gestured to the mess on the floor, which did include Piper’s clothes, among many other soft fabrics, “there, ish.”

“Yes, I can see that,” bit Piper, annoyance clear as she bent down and collected it all up before storming off to the bathroom to get changed.

“Henry, why don’t you tidy up while we go and get changed. Also, I’d recommend putting the table back somewhere for the time being while we eat and drink. We can move it back later.” Siren encouraged, collecting hers and Jakes piles as they made their way upstairs.

By the time Piper was changed, the makeshift bed was remade and shifted back to make room for the coffee table and was piled high with pillows and blankets, making it more into a nest than a bed. The pizza boxes were open and a slice was missing from the pepperoni, black olive, and jalapeño pizza. Henry was sat on the side of the coffee table nearest the door, sipping from a mug of hot chocolate, feeling incredibly thankful for the insulated pots it had been sat in and was scrolling through the options on ChickFlicks.

“Hey, Hen. You decided on anything, yet?” Piper asked, sitting beside him and taking a slice of spinach and ricotta pizza.

“Yeah, but I can’t decide between _Not Fuzz_ or _The Ring of Doom_. What do you think?” Henry asked, scrolling back up to the top.

“The Ring of Doom is good, but is super long and I’m not in the mood for something that makes me think of feel emotions. So lets so for Not Fuzz. It’s always good, no matter the situation. And there’s always a time for Dan Waterson and Nikola Azrael being super in love while explosions happen.” She contemplated, finishing her slice, and then pouring herself a mug of hot chocolate.

“See, that’s what I was thinking. I just haven’t seen Ring of Doom in a long time. So, Not Fuzz it is,” Henry decided, clicking on it and pausing it as the opening title card began, waiting for their parents to join. It didn’t take long, and soon the entire family was sat in a darkening room, completely engrossed in the explosions and intense dramatical nonsense taking place on the screen before them.


	11. Family Be as Family Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hart family starts being a family for what feels like the first time ever. They bicker, they talk, they cry, they comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first started this, what they were arguing about was supposed to be inconsequential, but now I really want to see this movie haha

The Hart’s could be heard from across the street. The subject of their argument could not be discerned, but the volume and passion of the argument could not be ignored. Nosy neighbours who were trying to do their best to distract themselves from the recent news were gathering around outside, out of view of windows, to try and figure out what was going on.

Inside the Hart home, Piper was stood in front of the TV and pointing her finger at Siren accusingly, who was stood with her hands on her hips, leaning down to Pipers level.

“Nikola and Dan are _made for each other_!!!!” Piper shouted, absolutely furious.

“No! Nikola and Cate had way more chemistry! And when the cult was closing in on them, he leaned towards _her_! Not Dan!” Siren rebutted, equally riled up.

“Yeah! Because he was _shot_! He was putting more pressure on the bullet wound, otherwise he would have died!” Piper exploded in annoyance.

“ _Then why did Cate kiss his forehead when he was dying?_ ” exclaimed Jake, seconds away from standing himself.

“Just because she love him, doesn’t mean he loved her back! Nikola was obviously in love with Dan, and if you disagree then you’re homophobic!” Spit was flying from Piper’s mouth as she turned her attention to their father.

“I’m not homophobic! You’re just wrong!” he spat back.

“What about the swell in the music when Dan grabbed Nikola’s hand when it was revealed that Dan had known about the cult all along and had been trying to convince Nikola, Cate, and Abbey to leave so that they wouldn’t have to deal with them?” Piper shot back.

Henry had had enough. As much as he usually loved these debates, they were ignoring the most obvious point. “He loved both of them equally, you morons!” He burst, uncurling from his face-palm and glaring around at his family. “And you’d know that if you’d watched the extended edition! Abbey herself says that Nikola would never be able to give one up for the other because they both held such a large piece of his heart and that she was worried for her brother if anything happened to either of them. And then Cate and Dan made a pact to keep each other safe! That’s why Cate went back for him at the end! They all love each other, idiots!”

Siren and Piper were both glaring at him, obviously wanting to continue the argument. Jake opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Henry threw a small brownie chunk into his mouth, effectively shutting him up.

“And before any of you disagree with me, let me just tell you that the actors confirmed it. Had there been a sequel, Dan and Cate would have ended up together. If Nikola had survived, they would have been a throuple. And if that’s not good enough, the writers said so as well.

Piper blew an angry breath through her nose and crossed her arms and Siren pulled out her phone to check the internet. For the thirty seconds it took her to scroll, sigh, then hand her phone over to Piper, then Jake, Henry sat smugly, eyebrows raised in triumph at the annoyed looks on their faces.

“So, as you can see. You are all simultaneously right and _wrong._ ” He laughed and, seeing Piper pick up a pillow, quickly stood up and grabbed the empty pizza boxes. “I’m just gonna put these in the bins outside!” He called as he bolted, pillow hitting the door as it closed.

“What was that about?” asked a voice from far too close behind him.

Henry screamed as he turned around, pizza boxes flying from his hands.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” said a rather prim looking old lady standing at the end of the porch.

“No, no! It’s fine! You didn’t scare me! I just. Um…. I just…” Henry stumbled, trying to regain his dignity.

“It’s alright to be startled, dear. There is nothing shameful about it.” The old lady chuckled.

“Oh, okay.” Henry rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his face start to heat with embarrassment.

“So, what was all the shouting about? I could hear it from my grand-daughters house next door.”

“Oh, that. We were just arguing about a movie and who the characters should have ended up with. It happens every time we watch it or one of the related ones.” Henry explained, stooping down to pick up the boxes, and only then remembering what he was wearing. The burning in his cheeks getting worse.

“Sounds like fun,” she tittered, head tilting to the side. “I’d best let you hurry back inside, then. I don’t want you catching a cold.” And with that, she turned and slowly started to make her way back to the house next door.

Shame kept Henry from responding as he rushed to dispose of the boxes and make his way inside. As soon as the door was closed, Henry stalked forward.

“Why didn’t any of you stop me from going outside wearing this?!”

Piper stuck her tongue out at him.

“Because, honey, you didn’t give us much of a chance,” comforted Siren, seeing just how upset her son was.

“And, even if you did, I wouldn’t have anyway. Have you seen how ugly this onesie is? It has a flap on the bum! Covered in purple stripes! There’s a reason I’ve never worn it, but by the law of the sleepover, you made me put it on tonight. Consider it payback.”

“Jake, you’re not being helpful.”

“Well, it’s true,” Jake stated.

“Look, I’m not going to treat you like a child. Get over yourself and realise that telling your son that you’d knowingly allow him to feel humiliated as payback for a silly joke is not something a real parent would do.” Siren lectured, tired of this conversation already.

Jake’s face fell as he realised just how childish he was being and sat up a little straighter.

“I’m sorry, son. I hadn’t thought about how you felt out there wearing something so secret. I’m proud that you let us in enough to know, though,” he exhaled, and stood up and reached an arm around his shoulder.

The flush came back full force, though this time for a different reason. The warmth spread from his cheeks to his chest and sat there like a content kitten, purring away.

“Boring!” Piper called as she flopped onto the cushions, using her legs to push the table away from her so she had enough room to spread out.

“Instead of doing that, why don’t you and I move it away together?” Siren asked rhetorically as she moved to one end of the table, waiting expectantly for Piper to get up and help her (which she did, after much groaning and moaning.)

Within the next minutes, the family had tidied up the room, putting pillows back in the pile, moved the table, mugs, tray, and pots away, and a plate had been placed in the middle of the ‘mattress’, piled high with mini brownies. Each Hart had a duvet or blanket wrapped around them like capes of comfort and warmth.

An uncomfortable bump dug into Henry’s thigh as, and after a few shifts, he was able to reach under himself and pulled out the tv remote.

“So, what do you guys want to watch?” He asked, holding it up with a small flourish.

“Actually, Henry,” Jake started, looking over to his wife.

“We’d like to talk to you properly,” Siren finished.

_Oh no._

“Uh…what about?”

“Well, to start off with, I want to ensure you know that you don’t have to tell us anything and that if you want a topic to be dropped, you let us know immediately,” she started, reaching over Piper to place her hand on his knee, “But we would like to talk to you about some of the things you said earlier, if that’s okay with you.”

Henry felt himself deflating. _Welp. Might as well get this over with._ “Okay, what do you want to know?”

“Well, for starters, why don’t you tell us what happened earlier?” Jake put his hand over Siren’s.

“Okay. Um…and I can stop at any time?”

“Absolutely,” Siren nodded.

“And if they keep going, I’m going to change the Wi-Fi password,” Piper half threatened.

“Okay. Well. I didn’t sleep much last night because I had really bad heartburn, you know how it is. Hot coal in the throat, coughing, random chest pains – those kind of things – because Ray bought a load of brownies into work and I kinda ate too many. So this morning I was already in an awful mood. And then the argument we had, followed by me accidently telling you about my hypermotility even though Captain Man told me about how dangerous it could be for anyone to find out I have it and mistake me for Kid Danger, so that then made me really stressed. Then when I got to work this morning it was really crowded and I accidently said some stuff to a customer that I shouldn’t have, and so Ray gave me a warning. And then I did it again. Now my hours are reduced and I’m taking front desk duty in shifts with Jasper, instead of the fun stuff like research in the back with Charlotte. And then, I guess that was the final straw. I’ve had a stressful time for what feels like forever, and nearly being fired did it for me. I was started crying. But then this really nice lady and her baby found me. She was so nice and she didn’t ask any questions that I had to answer. She was so nice and she let me cry for a long time. And..and…I just want to find her and thank her because I don’t know how to,” _safely, without revealing anything,_ Henry finished in his mind, feeling tears start to well up behind his eyes again.

“I mean, yesterday, Piper nearly killed herself by dumping a load of rocks on her head. Last week, Charlotte nearly got into a fight with the most terrifying girl in the school. A couple of months ago I got stuck in a hole for a few days without food and nobody _fucking noticed I was gone!_ Before that, everybody I know and love got sick with a deadly disease and we barely made it past that day alive! It’s just been a lot and I’m honestly surprised I’m still alive and sane, right now!”

By this point, Henry was full on bawling, ugly sobbing, but still in control enough to say what he needed to say.

Piper was staring at him slack-jawed with tears in her eyes, leaning forwards ever so slightly, but Henry could tell that every atom in her body wanted to reach over and hug him.

The grip on Henry’s knee tightened to the point where it was almost painful.

“And, of course, just to make everything _so. Much. Better._ ” The words came out through clenched teeth, “Captain Man just declared to the world that _Kid Danger is dead_!” The tears that had started kept falling, but at some point Henry had started laughing. “And, of course, after telling you everything I decided to wear something I have always been scared to wear in front of anyone and then _people see me_! And I don’t know why it bother me so much! It’s just a piece of fabric designed to keep you not too warm and not too cool at night, but before today, the idea of anybody finding it was probably the worst thing I could imagine happening to me!” _And that’s saying something._

The laughing had fallen back to ugly sobbing again, as Jake wrapped his arm around Henry, who leaned into the embrace like the scared little boy he felt like. Almost as if taking that as permission, Piper scooted over to him, wrapping her blanket around them both and tucking into his side, while Siren crawled in front of him and leaned over, managing to fit her entire family in her arms.

After a long silence, Henry was able to focus on the people around him. The protective warmth around him felt like a barrier against the outside world, and much safer than the quilted coat had been. His dad’s fingers were rubbing soothing circles on his upper arm, soothing the circling fears and thoughts. His ear was pressed to the centre of his fathers chest where the comforting rhythm of _thu-dump, thu-dump, thu-dump_ , met his ears, giving himself something to focus on. Against his other side, the soft sensation of deep, slightly wobbly, breath reached him through the soft fabric of his nightgown as Piper silently cried beside him, for him. The growing wet patch and slight trembles being the only indications. On his spare shoulder, he felt his mother forehead pressed firmly there as she completed the circle, wrapping her blanket around Piper’s and Jake’s shoulder, completing the bubble. The fluffy fabric from her pyjama bottoms brushed soothingly across Henry’s bare legs in time with her bodies natural movements as she breathed, keeping in time with the puffs falling down in chest from where her head lay against him as she attempted to cuddle him while her arms were preoccupied.

After what could have been seconds or centuries, Henry was completely calm, Piper’s breath had evened out, and the entire family drifted off to sleep, all slowly tilting to one side and embracing each other on the floor as though it were completely natural to do so.


	12. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry has a really bad nightmare because he just won't stop ignoring his problems, even when he's crying and given the perfect opportunity to open up. His friends and family are there for him, as always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is over 3000 words. That is longer than my essay needs to be, yet I can write this in one sitting, but not the essay I've had literal months to do without bursting into tears from frustration. Sounds about right.

**_Darkness. Everywhere, darkness. Eyes open, darkness pressing._ **

**_Someone is crying._ **

_I can’t move. Why can’t I move?_

**_Arms pressing painful against his chest, Henry tried to struggle. Kicking his feet, he discovers there’s nothing beneath him. The only thing keeping him from falling into the abys is the fact that his wrists are too wide to fit down the hole with the rest of his body._ **

_“Who’s there?”_

**_Silence. Deafening silence._ **

_“Where did you go?”_

**_The crying was gone. The pressure was getting tighter, sharper, more restricting._ **

**_A small light appeared as though it had been there all along. It was blue, no, grey, no, red, no blue._ **

**_It was bigger now, though Henry hadn’t seen it move._ **

**_The light was a person. A very familiar person, though he couldn’t see them properly, as if their entire being was covered in static._ **

**_The crying started again._ **

**_The person was now standing directly beside Henry, feet level with his chest as though he were stuck in the floor._ **

**_Tears were falling from the static person._ **

**_A small hissing sound and immediate sharp pain sparked from where one hit Henry’s head. More were falling._ **

**_Hisss, pain, hisss, pain. The tears were falling faster. The pressure was increasing._ **

**_Everything cleared for a split second. The hissing pain stopped, the pressure ceased, the static cleared._ **

**_Henry looked up at himself as Kid Danger, tears falling from his eyes and a large blue/red/silver cloak covering him like a cult leader. The skin was grey and gaunt, the eyes looking down at him, glowing the green of the bubble-gum transformation energy. In one hand was an oat bar, in the other was the laser remote._ **

**_As the second of clarity passed, the hissing pain started, faster this time, and the pressure became tighter and sharper than it was before._ **

_“Why are you doing this?” **Henry begged, wanting nothing more at that moment than to just**_ **escape _._**

_“This is who you are,” **Answered Kid Danger, voice clear and light.**_

_“Stop, please! I’m sorry!” **Henry couldn’t cry. Every time a tear fell from his eyes, it would transfer into Kid Danger.**_

_“Sorry for what?” **Kid Danger laughed, suddenly standing directly above Henry, and bending down.**_

_“I don’t know! Something! Everything! I’m the reason that you don’t exist anymore! I’m the reason that Kid Danger is dead! I’m the reason that Captain Man now has to go out there alone and get into dangerous situations without backup! I’m the reason!_ I’M THE REASON KID DANGER IS DEAD! _So please, I’m sorry! I should have done better! I should have kept my mouth shut! I should have never said anything! I should have known better! But instead, I said too much and stuff happened and now you’re dead! Even if I’m still alive, Kid Danger is dead! I’m sorry!” **the pressure around his chest let up, and suddenly Henry was falling, unable to see anything. Kid Danger disappeared from above him. Darkness embraced him once again.**_

****

**_Everything shifted around him._ **

****

**_Henry was stood in the Man Cave, he looked down at himself and saw that he was in full uniform, a knife was clutched in his hand._ **

**_Ray stood before him, dripping wet._ **

**_Something deep within Henry knew it was all pure, distilled, tears of the Jolly Beetle._ **

_“How could you, Kid Danger?” **Asked Ray, utter betrayal colouring his voice.**_

**_No matter what he did, Henry couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t drop the knife. Nothing._ **

_“I thought we were friends,” **Ray continued, seemingly unaware of the battle going on behind the Kid Danger mask.**_

**_Without his consent, Henry’s body took a step forward, grip tightening on the knife and shifting it so it would be easier to maneuver._ **

_Ray! Move! Run! I can’t stop!_

_“And yet you left me when I needed you most!” **Henry was still closing the distance.**_

_Run! Get out of the way! You’re going to get hurt! **It almost felt like he was shouting, but Captain Man made no indication that he heard him.**_

_“If Drex were there, he never would have left me,”_

_I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! **Henry was now directly in front of Ray, who was still stood there, completely unaware of the danger he was in.** Please! Run! You’re not indestructible! Please! I’m sorry! RUN AWAY!_

**_The knife was raised without a reaction from Captain Man and came down in one fell swoop. The knife lodged itself directly into the centre of his chest, directly in his heart._ **

**_Captain Man de transformed into Ray as he crumbled to the ground, taking a small breath before dying instantly._ **

_“HENRY,” **a booming voice echoed as Ray was replaced by a small boy, no older than thirteen, pale blond hair slick with sweat and blood. Blue and grey top covered in so much blood that they almost matched the colour of his trousers.**_

_I’m sorry, Kid. **Henry tried to say, but his body still wouldn’t respond.**_

**_The feeling of a hand appeared on his arm and shook him vigorously. Looking over, a vision of Piper crushed beneath a pile of grey rocks appeared before fading out of existence._ **

_“Henry!” **the voice came from his left, and with it, a vision of Charlotte stood before him, dressed as Kid Danger, blood running down from a large open gash in her head, until it disappeared as though it was never there.**_

_“HENRY!” **the voice came from his other side, and as he looked over, an entire army of spiders formed before his eyes and starting scuttling towards Jasper, before also disappearing again.**_

_“Henry, baby! C’mon!” **Another voice reached him and with it a blinding, sudden realisation that**_

_I need to wake up!_

“NOOOOOO!” The scream escaped Henry as he was suddenly flung into consciousness, immediately struggling against the constrictive pressure around him as he tried to adjust to his surroundings.

The pressure immediately let go, and with it the warmth that he hadn’t noticed was there until it was gone.

“Henry, baby! Calm down! It’s okay! You’re safe now! Everything is okay!” Siren was frantically trying to calm her son down, while Jake started shushing, waiting until Henry had stopped thrashing before he continued to hug him, bringing the warmth with him.

As his senses returned, he was finally able to come to terms with where he was, who he was with, and where everybody was.

Apparently, Henry was sat up, and had been leant against father’s chest to stop him from falling, which placed him sat solidly in Jake’s lap, who had his arms wrapped around him in a comforting embrace. Siren was kneeling before them, hair falling in her face as she leant over and stroked the tears from his cheeks, brow furrowed in worry and pity as Henry tried to get his breathing back under control. Looking around, Henry immediately noticed Piper’s absence, and a deep panic immediately gripped him.

_What if she was hit by the rocks! What if Drex or Dr Minyak or the Toddler got her! What if there was a Mexican Redrump and it got her while she went to go to the loo! Where is she? I need to find her!_

“Where’s Piper!” Henry demanded, heart racing and breathing becoming a lot harder and more erratic.

“She just went to go get you a bottle of that juice you like from the pantry, she’ll be back soon.” Siren soothed, smoothing his hair down in attempt to calm him down. It wasn’t working.

Instead, Henry pushed against Jake’s arms and waved her hand away as he unsteadily climbed to his feet, still unable to properly breath.

 _What if she’s not okay,_ the anxiety kept on saying, urging him to walk despite how difficult it was, _what if the spider got her?_

Henry made his way through the mess of pillows and duvets covering the floor, parents half a step behind him and ready to catch him at any point, until he made it to the raised platform when Piper emerged from around the stairs, holding two bottles of Tropicalypso orangeade.

The immediate relief he felt at seeing his sister okay was almost enough to send him buckling. Instead, in two unsteady strides, Henry all but collapsed onto Piper, wrapping her tightly in his arms as he felt the last of his nightmare induced anxiety fled from his body.

“Wwooaahh!” Piper cried in shock as she dropped the bottles and flung her arms around her big brother to keep him upright.

“I thought the spiders or villains got you. I was so scared,” Henry breathed in explanation, not letting go.

“Yeah, well, I’m fine. Though you are obviously not. You were shouting a lot.” Piper struggled to get out of Henry’s hold but gave up when she spotted their parents shaking their head behind him. “Do you want to talk about it?” she settled for instead, resigning herself to her fate, for now.

“Not really,”

“This isn’t healthy, Henry,” Siren said, placing her hand on his shoulder, trying to encourage him to release Piper, “you can’t keep bottling things up. And it’s becoming more and more obvious that something really bad happened with Kid Danger that you feel guilty about. I mean, you literally said that you are the reason Kid Danger is dead in your sleep.” She settled for giving his back a pat when he failed to move.

“Yeah, well, maybe I am. But I still don’t want to talk about it.” Henry said, really not wanting to come up with another lie for his family.

“Does this have something to do with the laser?” Jake asked.

Henry sighed and dug his face deeper into Piper’s hair, really not wanting to talk about this.

“Henry. What happened with the bad guy that makes you think it’s your fault Kid Danger is dead?” Piper asked, trying and failing to twist to get a look at her brothers face.

_Welp, time for half-truths._

“Kid Danger took the brunt of the fall for a mistake I, Henry Hart, made. Everything was fine, then I had to go ahead and open my stupid mouth, alerting people to our presence, and then he took the hit to protect me,” Henry said, referring back to the previous morning when Henry Hart had spilled his secret to his family, lied to the kind woman, then spilled too many secrets in front of a large group of people, resulting in him having to sacrifice his life as Kid Danger so that his existence as Henry Hart wouldn’t be affected, though he knew his family didn’t know that and assumed he was talking about some big fight in the alley behind Junk ‘N’ Stuff.

“Oh, sweetheart!” Siren cooed, joining the hug upon realising it wouldn’t end anytime soon, “you can’t blame yourself for that! It could have happened anyway, to anyone! It wasn’t your fault!”

“But it was, Mum!” Henry felt so drained and knew that tears would come soon if he didn’t manage to stop soon. “If I had just kept my stupid mouth shut, Swellview would still have Kid Danger!”

“Son, you can’t know this. Perhaps your actions actually allowed him to live longer by giving him a superpower to help in his fighting. You can’t know for sure that you being there made things worse.” Jake tried to comfort as he joined the hug, finishing the group hug again for what felt like the hundredth time in the last 24 hours. A silence fell upon the huddle as Henry refused to respond, instead trying to focus on the fact that his family was here and safe, though a small part that was growing larger and louder by the was nagging at him to check on Ray, Charlotte, Jasper, and Schwoz.

Finally, by the time the distant church bell tolled 3AM, he couldn’t ignore it anymore and extracted from his family who were all starting to fall asleep on their feet.

“Sorry, I can’t ignore it anymore. I have to make sure my friends are okay. I know they probably are, but I just need to know.” He explained as he picked the bottles from where they’d fallen, and deposited them on the naked sofa, before reaching and picking his phone up from the floor where it had fallen during the night, before finding his way up to his bedroom and sitting on the sofa next to his closed window.

**HenREEEEE: hey dude. I know its really late/early but I had a nightmare and I need to make sure you’re okay. Please just shoot me a message when you see this. and please, I don’t want to talk about it.**

  * **Sent 3:02AM**



**HenRIP: Hey, Char. I know it’s late but I just need to make sure you’re okay. I had a nightmare, and I can’t calm down until I know for a fact that you are okay.**

**CharNado: It’s no problem. I’m fine, I promise. If you want to talk about it, just let me know. I’ll put on a pot of tea and everything. If you want me to come over or vice versa, just say the words.**

**HenRIP: No, no. It’s fine. But thank you so much anyway. The fam’s downstairs. They’re trying their best to make me feel better but they don’t really know what’s going on and I can’t tell them. It’s not I can say ‘by the way, I was Kid Danger but I did some really stupid things and a lot of bad things have happened to me over the past few years and I’m pretty sure I’m traumatised, and I just had a dream I killed both Ray as Captain Man and myself as Kid Danger while everyone I know and love was being threatened or bad things were happening to them’. Cause, yeah. That’d go down great.**

**CharNado: Jesus Christ, Henry. That sounds like it sucks so bad.**

**CharNado: But you don’t have to tell them everything.**

**CharNado: What kind of bad things were happening to people?**

**HenRIP: Piper got crushed under a pile of rocks. Jasper was chased by an army of Mexican Redrumps. You were beaten up really badly while filling in for me as Kid Danger. And**

**HenRIP: I abandoned Ray when he was fighting a bad guy and he was soaked in beetle tears and then I couldn’t control my body and I stabbed as he was telling me that I was never going to be as good as Drex.**

**CharNado: Holy shit**

**HenRIP: And then, before that, it was like I was stuck in that hole again and I couldn’t move, and this creepy Kid Danger demon was crying on me and it hurt so fucking much.**

**CharNado: Oh, wow.**

**CharNado: um.**

**HenRIP: What do you think it means?**

**CharNado: I think it means that you’re feeling a lot of guilt and that you have very little control over anything right now. You probably feel like you had a lot of freedom as Kid Danger but now that you don’t you’re scared that you won’t be able to protect anyone anymore.**

**CharNado: My mum’s dream dictionary says that to dream of demons is to feel weak and that you need to find strength.**

**CharNado: But it also says that if the Demon looks like a human or turns into a human then it represents your strong desire for something selfish. If it’s somebody that you recognise then it means that this person is related to negative feelings you have for this person.**

**CharNado: To dream about being possessed by a demon means that you have been or are being hurt by other peoples behaviour to you.**

**CharNado: If you are the demon, it means that something you have done has had, is having, or will have a strong negative affect on other people.**

**CharNado: So, basically, you feel guilty for getting fired as Kid Danger and you still really want to be Kid Danger, but know that you can’t be and this makes you sad. You also feel really terrible about being fired as Kid Danger because now it means that you’re scared people are going to get hurt, but you feel powerless to stop it.**

**HenRIP: I honestly feel like you’ve just dissected my entire being and then made me back up again out of glass.**

**HenRIP: How the hell is that so accurate?**

**HenrRIP: Wow!**

**CharNado: Well, tbf, it’s usually a load of bullshit, but this seems surprisingly apt for the situation at hand.**

**HenRIP: Yeah. I’m feeling very exposed right now. I think I’m gonna go check on Ray and Schwoz before heading back to bed. I have no idea what day it is, but if it’s Monday, I’m gonna refuse to go to school.**

**CharNado: You know you can’t do that. Even the slightest suspicion can lead to further problems down the road.**

**HenRIP: You’re right and I know this. But I’ve just spent an entire day crying. At least I get tomorrow off of work as Ray makes a rotor for Jasper and I.**

**CharNado: Yeah. Now get yourself sorted and get some sleep!**

**HenRIP: I will, but only after you tell me what you’re doing awake.**

**CharNado: I put my phone on loud in case you needed to complain. Now go to sleep.**

The warmth that spread through Henry was almost enough to combat the rest of his anxiety, though not quite.

**DangerMouse: i know that you’re indestructible and very little can harm you, but please can you just ease my state of mind and assure me that you are okay. i had a nightmare that i killed you and I can’t close my eyes without seeing it.**

**BossMan: dude. its like 3:30 in the morning. wy r u txting me rn.**

**BossMan: oh shoot**

**BossMan: OK**

**BossMan: yeh. Im OK.**

**DangerMouse: how about schwoz?**

**BossMan: i can heer him humming and tincerring in the mane room. hes fine.**

**BossMan: do u want to tork abowt it?**

**DangerMouse: nah, im good. i just needed to check that you were okay. sorry for waking you**

**BossMan: its good. im good. schwoz is good. now go bak to sleep. u hav skool tomoro**

**DangerMouse: Jesus Christ on a kayak. Your spelling is even worse when you’re tired.**

**BossMan: scroo u. sleep now**

**DangerMouse: Sure thing. Good night**

**BossMan: nite**


	13. People Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal peaceful morning is ruined. First, by people on the internet, then by Jasper saying too much and Charlotte having to cover for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look. I don't know what's happening. All I know is that I sit down to write and stuff happens then it's three hours later and I have no memory of any of it.  
> So apparently this is becoming a fic containing all of my favourite tropes at once.
> 
> I'd apologise but this entire thing is being written as a form of automatic writing to help me deal with my mental health, so I'm not really haha.

By the time Henry went downstairs, his family were all spread out across the makeshift cushion mattress, all fast asleep due to the late hour. Piper was off to one side, snoring softly and curled in on herself, Jake and Siren were snuggled a small distance off, legs taking up the majority of the space, which only left a small amount of space for Henry to squeeze in between the two sleeping entities, curling so his arm was around Piper and his legs crossed with his parents' entangled ones, as unconsciousness fell upon him once again.

* * *

At 7AM sharp, a soft curl of music started emanating from Piper’s phone where it was plugged in at the wall. As the calming music pulled him from his slumber, Henry became immediately aware of just how hot he was, feeling like he was drowning in a puddle of his own sweat. Any attempts to move was thwarted by the restrictive pressure coming from all sides. Before he could panic, however, movement from whoever was on his right side allowed him to remove his arms from where they were pinned beneath Piper and himself.

“Ugh, I hate mornings,” came a sleepy groan from his other side as Jake’s arm removed itself from under Siren and Henry’s heads to push off one of the duvets that was covering them all.

“Kinda wishing we’d put the aircon on before we went to sleep,” Henry grumbled, attempting to untangle his legs from his parents, which was not made any easier as Siren rolled slightly and tucked him back under her arm, settling down to sleep once again.

“Stop talking,” Piper whined from his other side, as she rolled away from him, taking another of the duvets piled on top of them, “I hate mornings and you talking is making it worse,”

“Well, la de da!” Jake sarcastically singsonged as he sat up, before having a massive stretch.

“Mmmm, sleeping,” sighed Siren, tightening her grip on Henry.

“Mum, let go!” Henry huffed, putting up more of a fight to get out, but ending up completely tangled in the remaining duvet with his mother fast asleep once again curled around him as though he were a teddy. “Can I get a little help here?” He eventually resigned himself to not escaping without help.

“Not before I take a picture,” Piper picked up her phone and turned her alarm off before snapping a burst of photos.

“You’re the worst,”

“Yeah, but you still love me anyway,”

“I’m not so sure about that right now. Mum! Wake up! We’ve got school today!”

“Mum, come on. You can fall asleep again, but you’ve got to let Henry go. He really needs a shower,” Piper gently rocked Siren, who finally relinquished her grip with a mournful groan and then rolled over to her front and falling asleep again.

“I guess she’s gonna be the one to tidy up, then, while we’re out.”

“Apparently,” Jake said, emerging from the laundry room already fully dressed. “I’m already late for setting off for work, so I’m gonna have to trust you two to get to school safely on your own. If you miss the bus, you’re walking.” He finished, picking up his wallet, keys, and phone from the mantle before rushing out the door, forgoing breakfast completely.

“Did he brush his teeth?” Piper asked, making her way over to the kitchen and starting to make what appeared to be enough toast to feed a small army.

“No idea,” Henry replied as he made his way up to have a shower, feeling relieved to finally get the icky feeling from intense emotions off of him.

By the time he made his way downstairs, after having got almost completely ready for school and picked up his phone from where it was charging in his room, the table was piled with toast and a pot of tea, half of it already consumed by a much more awake looking Piper, who had got dressed herself but had yet to put her makeup on. She was sat at the table, scrolling through her phone with seemingly deep interest.

“Hey, Pip? What’s happening in the wider world?” Henry asked, knowing he was either gonna really regret the question or be immediately wanting to know more.

“The internet has exploded,” Piper said, completely deadpan as if it happened every day.

That pulled Henry up short, causing him to actually pause as he reached for a slice of Nutella toast.

“Exploded how?”

“The news that Kid Danger is dead,” her voice wobbled on that word, though she quickly and adamantly shook it off to continue, “has made it’s way to international news and everybody is saying how shocking and sorry they are for Swellview. There’s a group of deniers who are saying it’s actually a cover up for something else and that he’ll return eventually, but they’re being shot down left, right, and centre, by people asking why Captain Man would lie like that and how he could cry so convincingly. A new Readit has been created to find and collect pictures, gifs, and photos of all the times he was caught being uncomfortable or showing symptoms. I’m not entirely sure why, but it already has over three thousand entries.”

“Three _thousand_?!” Henry very nearly did a spit-take at that and only avoided choking due to his enhanced reflexes allowing him to swallow his food before it could become an obstruction.

“Yeah, but a lot of them are all the same pictures and gifs, especially from the last few days. And there are a lot of people talking about times they were saved by him and he was acting a bit funny.”

“Three thousand!” Henry repeated in a whisper, still in awe of the sheer scale of it.

“I know. I was the one that told you,”

“Sorry, it just surprised me, is all,” Henry managed to shake himself out of his shock and got back to eating. “What else have people been saying?”

“Well, a lot of people have started asking about when a funeral will take place. The vice-mayor has apparently contacted Captain Man about whether or not he wants a large funeral or if he’s going to have a small private gathering with family, assuming it exists, but apparently he’s received no response even though he asked as soon as the livestream was over.”

“Well, firstly, that was a shitty thing for the vice-mayor to do. He could have at least waited for a few hours, and secondly, why do people care about a funeral so much right now? It hasn’t even been 24 hours. I’m pretty sure there are people who still don’t know, yet.”

_Shit, in all of our meticulous planning, we never thought about a funeral!_

“I don’t know. I’m just telling you what’s going on.” Piper had finally finished her last slice of toast, and was now making her way to her bedroom to finish getting ready, “you’re gonna tidy this up, but don’t forget to leave some for Mum.”

“Yes, I know. I’m not an idiot.”

“Debatable!”

“Hey!” Henry called after her, but she was already gone.

_Welp. May as well check the mayhem._

As soon as he opened TwitFlash Henry immediately felt like closing it again, but he knew that he actually had promised Ray that he’d make sure things stayed relatively calm.

Cate Blanchett @CateEBlanchett

#RIPKidDanger

I would like to extend my deepest condolences to Swellview and to Captain Man. He was too young and didn't deserve to suffer.

  * Image of Kid Danger’s profile picture –
  * 101 Retweets – 52 Quote Tweets – 293 Likes



Henry didn’t quite know what to feel about it. On one hand, Cate Blanchett knew about him, on the other, on the other almost every single reply was some iteration of the crying emoji, or middle-aged men and women saying how Kid Danger was too young to be out crime-fighting and it was all Captain Man’s fault in the first place.

Scrolling more through his timeline, there were many more people, mostly middle-aged and up, blaming Captain Man for neglect or knowingly putting Kid Danger in harms way, and many were trying to get #ArrestCaptainMan trending. Of course, there were hoards of people coming to his defence, but it was not enough to calm the anger building within him. By the time Piper was finished and it was time to go, Henry still hadn’t moved from his seat, breakfast long forgotten, as his limbs shook in barely restrained anger.

“Hey, Henry. It’s time to go! Why didn’t you put the stuff away.” Piper called from the front door where she was waiting for him, until she realised she couldn’t actually focus on his arms or legs, “Woah, hey. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he clenched out, trying his hardest to not throw everything in front of him or flip the table.

“Well, that’s a lie. You said that you vibrate when you feel really intense emotions, and by the look on your face, you’re really angry.” She crossed her arms, obviously not very impressed.

“Let's talk outside so we don’t wake Mum up,” Henry carefully said, knowing better than to take his anger out on his sister. Much faster than every other person on the planet, Henry collected his school things and made his way out the front door, Piper directly behind him.

“So, what’s got you all riled up?”

“People are blaming Captain Man and demanding he be arrested for neglect and child abuse! How are you not angry?!” Henry was pacing, trying to calm his vibrating down.

“Because they’re basically all entitled middle-class, middle-aged people who are used to getting their own way when they lash out and become angry. And, as anger is a stage of grief, it makes sense that they want to blame somebody. And, seeing as the DNAniac is already taken care of, the next best target is Captain Man.” Piper reasoned.

Henry calmed, thinking about it. It made sense.

“Since when did you become so wise?”

“Since I read that self-help thing online a few days ago.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“To help myself, duh! I swear that all you have between your ears is candy floss.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I have at least one brain cell!” Henry shot back, anger leaving him to be replaced by indignation.

“Yeah, and it bounces around your head like the DVD logo.”

“How do you even know about that? We got rid of our DVD player when I was eight and we got the DVD TV combo.”

“It’s a meme, dumbass.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Calmer?”

Henry noticed that he actually was calmer. Piper had distracted him, the sneaky little witch.

“Yeah, I am. Thanks. Let’s get the bus before it leaves without us.”

* * *

The walk to the bus stop was a short one, and when they got there, Henry was very surprised to see almost everyone wearing black. Glancing down at Piper, he noticed that she was wearing black, too. A black, long-sleeved jumper and black leggings, under her long grey coat, with her favourite black raised boots. The looks that he and the few other people who were wearing were getting told him that he’d missed something.

“How could you be so heartless?” A small boy, no older than eleven, appeared at his elbow.

Henry shrieked.

Almost immediately, he regained his composure and processed what the boy said.

“What do you mean?”

“How could you be so heartless?” the boy emphasised, “Kid Danger is _dead_ and you’re stood here dressed as though it’s a normal day and you’re going to a party.”

This confused Henry. Party? What?

“I’m not dressed for a party. I’m wearing _flannel._ And I wasn’t exactly aware there’s a dress code now. And I’m fully aware that Kid Danger is dead. I watched the news just like everybody else, and am going to miss him dearly, just like everybody else!” The utter nerve of the kid through Henry and his immediate instinct was sarcastic defence.

“No need to be so sarcastic, jeez!” the kid held his hands up in mock surrender.

_Oh, I really want to punch this kid._

“Then don’t act like a piece of fermented shit, then.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you actually cared that somebody who was obviously so much of a better person than you is dead.”

_Don’t punch the kid. Punching children is bad._

Henry looked directly at the smug little pricks face.

_Oh! But it’s so tempting!_

“You literally know nothing about me! But I can tell you right now, with absolute certainty, that if Kid Danger were here, he’d absolutely hate your guts and would probably only refrain from punching due to his strong sense of morality.” Henry was spitting in distaste. How _dare_ this child insinuate that Henry was a bad person, when he’d spent the last few years of his life doing his damn best to keep despicable little twats like him safe almost every week, sometime every day.

“Yeah, right. And how’d you know that?”

The only thing that stopped Henry from punching the brat was the feeling of people holding his hands. Looking to his sides, he saw Piper and Charlotte on either side of him, while Jasper directly behind him, ready to grab him at a moments notice, not that he could react fast enough to do so.

“Because Henry knew Kid Danger better than anyone!” Jasper exclaimed over his shoulder.

Immediately, all the attention that had been on the rising tension was now all focussed on Jasper, even as he seemed to realise what he’d done. “Not-not that I knew him or anything. Or that Henry did. Or-“

At the combined death glares he was receiving from both Henry and Charlotte, Jasper completely shut up and took a step back. Henry shook himself free from the shocked loose grasp of Piper and the furiously tight grip of Charlotte.

“Oh yeah? And how’s that?” laughed the kid.

“Because,” Charlotte started, looking both like she really did not want to be there right at that second, and like she was seconds away from murdering Jasper, “because,” she looked over to Henry, who was way too angry to come up with any decent excuse on his own. “Because Henry and Kid Danger were dating! That’s why!” She blurted out, turning around to the now startled preteen.

“Really?” asked one of the other preteens who were gathered around them.

“Yeah, really?” Henry sarcastically parroted.

“Yes!” Charlotte decided, “That’s why you always ran off at random times! It’s because he texted you that he was free and wanted to meet up. Not even Captain Man knows.”

_What the fuck, Charlotte!_

“Yeah, and I was gonna keep it that way!” He said, instead. Not sure who he wanted to kill first.

“Yeah, well. You should probably tell him.” Charlotte raised her eyebrows at him meaningfully.

“Yeah, I probably should.”

“Wait. Wait. Henry’s gay?” Piper shook herself from her initial shock.

“What? No! No! I’m not! I’m-“

“Bi! Henry’s bi! Sorry for outing you like this!” Charlotte did not look apologetic at all.

Henry just stared at her, completely still.

_How the fuck am I supposed to deal with this? How am I supposed to go from people thinking I’m dying, and doing stupid things, to thinking I’m dead, to thinking that I used to date me, who they think is dead. How are we going to make this work! Why do we have to make this work! Charlotte’s supposed to be the smart one!_

“This information is supposed to be secret. Nobody was ever supposed to know. That is why nobody here is going to say anything or I will personally hunt you down and rip your tongues out, understood?” Henry addressed the crowd, still looking at Henry. A smattering of mumbled agreements spread among the gathered group. “Good. I’m walking.”

And he did just that, leaving Charlotte and Jasper to deal with the mayhem that was inevitably going to be unleashed. Just as he approached the end of the street he heard the bus pull up. _Welp, no going back now._

As soon as he was far enough away, Henry pulled out his phone and dialled Ray.

He picked up after two rings.

“Do you care to tell me why a portal opened up in the middle of the Man Cave and Kid Danger hopped out and made a beeline for your spare stash of clothes, telling me that Henry Hart would explain?” Ray didn’t even give Henry a chance to breath before going off, obviously very annoyed.

“Okay, so, you know how Jasper is an idiot? Well, I was angry and nearly got into a fight with a kid who was trying to tell me that Kid Danger was way better than I’d ever be. Jasper tried to defend me and told them that I knew Kid Danger better than anyone else. When the boy asked how, _Charlotte decided to tell a group of gossipy teenager that Henry Hart and Kid Danger were dating before Kid Danger died and that Captain Man still doesn’t know._ ”

“I’m sorry? WHAT!” The absolute disbelief Ray managed to exude through the phoneline perfectly summed up how Henry himself was feeling. “Wait, but you’re not gay!”

“I _know!_ ” Henry threw up his arms for emphasis, knowing full way that he couldn’t be seen.

“But that doesn’t explain why another you is carrying a load of stuff into the guest bedroom of the Man Cave.

“Okay, so basically, I’ve just had an idea that I assume is being put into motion right now. I know that people are not going to believe me, and it would absolutely cement Kid Danger and Henry Hart as two separate people if people thought we were dating. So I’m gonna take a load of ‘secret’ selfies with Kid Danger and not try very hard to hide them. It’s almost 100% certain that someone is gonna say something to their friend and rumours are gonna spread. There’s nothing we can do about that. So the best thing we can do is control it.”

“Or you could just let people think you were lying,”

“I guess. But, lets be honest, if rumours are confirmed then they’re less like to get out of control. Out of control rumours cannot be predicted and it is entirely likely that someone will start to theorise that I am Kid Danger, which isn’t all that great. So, may as well tell them what they want to hear before things start going wrong.”

“You’re saying this, but I also know you. It sounds more like an excuse for pulling the mother of all pranks.”

“Okay, fine. Yes, I thought it would be fun. But I did actually spend like an entire two blocks thinking about it before going ‘fuck it’, so you have to give me that.” Henry laughed, approaching where he knew a tunnel entrance to be. “I’m just approaching the tunnel between the at the end of the short Captain Man street, near Mouth Candy. Can you please let me down?” Henry asked as he stepped into the fake telephone box.

“I’ll accept your excuse, then. But only because I think it’s funny. Is there anyone watching?”

“It’s all clear, see you in a sec,” Henry said as he quickly hung up and tucked his arms by his side, disappearing down the tube.


	14. Henry Hart Take Selfies with Kid Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some lighthearted shenanigans as Henry decides to go with Charlotte's story and creates evidence, having some fun along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I just thought it would be funny. And I kinda got carried away with the videos (as one is prone to do when studying media and videos), but honestly, this was a lot of fun to write.

As soon as he landed, Henry knew that this would be an odd however long for him.

“Hey, Henry!” Called Kid Danger, walking through the sprocket carrying a Not Fuzz poster that Henry knew belonged in Ray’s “movie” room, which was where he collected all of his favourite memorabilia and costumes. “Just setting up the guest room so that it looks like I live there,” his presumably future self said, before disappearing.

“Okay,” Henry squeaked, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable, like a part of his brain was rejecting the idea of him being both right here and also over there.

“So, you’re going to take selfies with yourself. And you keep telling me _I’m_ narcissistic!” Ray laughed, obviously very much enjoying this.

“That’s because you are,” Henry shot back, stepping towards the sofa and quickly dumping his school bag down, “anyway, this has got be quick because I’ve got maybe half an hour before school starts and I don’t want to be late.”

“Okay, okay. You go take pictures with your boyfriend and I’m gonna sit here and laugh. Maybe send Charlotte and vaguely threatening text. See how much can make her apologise.”

“Don’t be mean!” Henry called as he rushed through to the guest bedroom, where he saw himself sticking the poster above the headboard. A few changes of shirt were placed on the vanity, which had a load of sweets, knickknacks, bubble gum tubes, and a spare Kid Danger mask. A large gun, which Henry recognised as the failed mind control gun that just made people dance, was hanging on the back of the closet next to a shiny grey robe. His other self’s boots were chucked off to the side of the room, and the utility belt was hanging over the back of the chair at the vanity.

“So,” Henry started, closing the door and turning the bedside lamp then reaching over and turning the overhead light off, “this is weird.”

“Yup, definitely,” Kid Danger agreed, climbing down from the bed, and sitting so he was leaning against the wall opposite him. “If you want to get things over with quickly, come sit beside me and start taking selfies. It’s gonna feel weird, btw.” He added as a warning just before Henry sat beside him.

The warning did little to prepare him for the full-body tingle that pulsed its way through his entire body before settling at all the places where he was touching his doppelganger. It was not a pleasant sensation.

“Oh wow, that is most certainly different!” He breathed, trying to adjust himself to the feeling of the very concept of time trying to separate them.

“Yeah. It doesn’t get better, unfortunately. It also doesn’t get worse, though, so silver linings and all that.” Kid Danger said as he carefully pulled Henry’s phone out of his pockets to try and keep the tingles from increasing too much, and snapping a quick selfie of a distracted looking Henry, Kid Danger winking at the camera.

“Hey, give that back!” Henry cried as he reached across himself to grab his phone back while Kid Danger took a couple more selfies, before giving it back to the correct version of himself. “What was that for?”

“Authenticity,” laughed Kid Danger, while Henry took a revenge picture.

“Wow! I’m a jerk!”

“Hey! That’s not entirely true!”

“Yeah, I have to give you that one,” Henry laughed, leaning onto Kid Danger’s shoulder and snapping another quick selfie, before taking a deep, fortifying breath and leaning over to give himself a kiss of the cheek, trying to make it look as believable as possible, even while everything in him screamed at him at how physically wrong this was. As soon as he had taken the selfie he leaned as far back as he could without falling over and started smacking his lips, the need to get rid of the physics defying feeling taking control of both versions of him for a second if the look of immense discomfort on Kid Danger’s face was any indication as he leant over as wiped his cheek on the bathrobe a short distance reach away from him.

“I think that’s enough for that,” Henry said as he got to his legs, feeling immediately better as soon as he was no longer in physical contact with his other self.

“I agree with you wholeheartedly with you on that one,” Kid Danger said, standing and shucking off the outer layer to his uniform, being left in nothing but his blue under-top, mask, and red trousers, bright blue socks on full display.

Henry quickly changed from his favourite red flannel to one of the spare brightly coloured generic t-shirts that seemed to appear everywhere in the Man Cave whenever he needed a change of clothes, despite actually bringing a few sets of his own clothes here whenever he needed to get new ones.

When he looked up, he saw that Kid Danger was ‘reading’ a book he had pulled from the mini bookcase below the nightstand that was always filled. It was something to do with martial arts history, but they both knew that he wasn’t going to look at the title, nor was he going to actually read it. He was just posing.

“Turn the light on, I can’t actually see the words and we want it to look believable,” Kid Danger said, shifting to turn the bedside lamp off.

“Yes, sir,” Henry tutted back, doing so then falling onto the bed beside Kid Danger, getting as himself comfortable as he could with his entire side tingling as it was. Kid Danger reached down as if he were playing with Henry’s hair, though in actuality he held it just millimetres above so as not to overwhelm either of them too much with the tingles.

Henry snapped a few photos, noticing just how badly his yellow t-shirt clashed with Kid Danger’s blue undershirt. He then turned the camera around and pointed it at their legs.

“I’m going to tangle our legs now,” Henry said in warning.

“I know,” Kid Danger said, mentally preparing himself.

Once again, as soon as the picture was taken, Henry and Kid Danger parted with hyper speed, before settling back down beside each other. The tingling wasn’t even that unpleasant, it was just as though the universe around them was shouting at them to not touch under any circumstances and they kept on disobeying.

“Okay, you should use my stomach as a pillow,” Kid Danger said, bracing himself for the feeling of universal disapproval and turning to a page a lot further into the book.

Henry did as he was told, checking the time, and realising just how much of a time crunch they were really on.

Facing his phone in Kid Danger’s direction, he decided to record a short video instead, confident that Kid Danger knew and was expecting it.

“You’re a nerd,” Henry decided to begin with, propping himself upright so that the video could be recorded vertically, knowing just how much it would piss Piper off.

“Yeah, but I’m hot, so it makes up for it,” Kid Danger said, only glancing at Henry for a second before hiding behind the book again.

“You’re still a nerd, though,” Henry said, not really sure what to say.

“I’d rather be a nerd than a fool,” Kid Danger said, putting the book down on the pillow beside him, “Who was it that accidently deleted every single picture in his ‘secret’ folder?” Kid Danger said, giving Henry a pointed look above the phone.

_Oh shit, good idea, me. An excuse for why there are no other selfies._

“Me…?” Henry said, fake dejectedly.

“That’s what I thought. As I said, I’d rather be a nerd than a fool. All those memories, permanently gone because you have fat thumbs,”

“Hey!” Henry laughed, sitting up slightly so he was no longer leaning against Kid Danger, managing to suppress his sigh of relief, though Kid Danger apparently didn’t bother to.

“I won’t apologise for speaking the truth,” Kid Danger chuckled, propping himself up so that he was actually sat against the headboard and not just leaning against it. “How long are you going to record for, anyway?” he asked, still completely in character as the amused boyfriend, though directing the question directly at Henry.

“As long as I feel like it,” Henry grinned at him, poking Kid Danger in the chest to emphasise each word. Both versions of himself grimaced at the sensation, but Kid Danger was the only one in shot.

“Do you mind?” he asked, slightly annoyed.

“Right, sorry, yeah.” Henry apologised, flexing his finger slightly until the tingling stopped, then stopping the recording. “There, one sappy video to show people when they ask questions.”

“Perfect. If I’m supposed to be ill, we should probably have a picture of me _looking_ ill,” Kid Danger said, getting up and swiftly taking his undershirt off, leaving him stood topless. “You get changed, I’ll go into the toilet to scream to make my breath wheeze.” He said as if absolutely everything about this situation was normal.

“Yup, okay. Completely normal thing to do,” Henry muttered to himself as screaming emanated from the closed door at the far end of the room. A quick change into a while hoodie, he shot Ray a quick text, noticing he did not have long before he needed to be in first lesson.

**DangerMouse: hey you wanna be in a video?**

**BossMan: how so?**

**DangerMouse: well, how about you stand on the other side of the door and do concerned parent things while kid danger tries to hide henry hart’s existence?**

**BossMan: sound like fum**

**DangerMouse: awesome. i’ll leave the door ajar so you can hear us talking and then you come and be all loud and say you heard noises and make sure hes okay. don’t say any name, though. i want this to become viral after its ‘accidently’ leaked.**

“Got it,” Ray said from where he had approached the door, opening it and leaning against the door frame. “What’re you doing in there?”

“Screaming to make my voice wheeze, apparently,” Henry answered, closing the messaging app and opening the camera, ready. After a few more awkward seconds, he looked back up at Ray. “Oh, by the way, quick warning, but I’m topless in there. So I’d stand outside the door now if I were you,” he said as he quickly shuffled him out the door.

“Why?”

“To be realistic.”

“Fair,” as Ray said that, the screaming stopped and Kid Danger stepped out of the bathroom, Kid Danger mask off, and instead a quick-drying face-mask on.

“Where the fuck was that?” Henry asked in disbelief.

“The last person to stay here left it on the shelf,” Kid Danger responded, handing the Kid Danger mask over to Henry. “We’re gonna make it look like you stole it from me,” he said, purposefully putting more of a wheeze into his voice.

“Perfect,” Henry said, quickly taking a ‘silly’ selfie of him holding it in his mouth like a giant tongue, Kid Danger in the back, back turned as he made his way around the bed to turn the lights off and the lamp on.

After that, Kid Danger quickly tucked himself into bed and picked another book from the small bookshelf, replacing the martial arts one. This one had a white cover with colourful writing on the front, though the only word Henry could make out was ‘happy’. Henry sat back down beside Kid Danger, and resting the mask across his nose so it wasn’t actually on.

“Look what I’ve got!” He laughed, pressing record after he’d finished his sentence. Kid Danger looked up from his booked and gasped.

“Hey, give that back!” he exclaimed, wheeze very prominent in his voice, “you know what would happen if it got lost!” he reached across Henry, as Henry rushed (at a normal speed) out of the way. Kid Danger used his lightning-fast reflexes to catch it as it fell.

“No fair!” Henry pouted, turning the camera to point at where his future version was sprawled across the bed, panting slightly, before he gave an almighty cough. “Shit, dude. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Probably just a cold.”

“Yeah, probably,” Henry said, pulling a worried frown over his features, before a very real idea emerged, making him light up. “I bet you ten bucks that I can get the mask off you,” he grinned evilly, and without any other warning, dove over the bed, careful not to destroy the phone that was still in his hand. Just as his future self-dodged, Ray knocked loudly on the door.

“You okay in there, kid?” He called, loud enough to be clearly heard on the video, “I heard loud noises and a cough,”

“I’m fine!” Kid Danger shouted, grabbing a hold of Henry and dragging him over to the closet, whispering (still loud enough for the phone to pick up), “he’s back early, shit! Hide!”

“Can I come in?” Ray called, doorknob starting to twist.

“No, I’m naked! Hang on!” Kid Danger carefully slammed the closet door closed on Henry and jumped into bed, pulling the duvet up and over himself completely with lightning speed, and picking up his book. “I’m decent now!” he called. Henry turned the camera so that it was no longer showing through the slits in the door and was instead facing himself, though the lighting did not leave much to see. The sound of a door opening slightly could be heard as Henry shoved his fist in his mouth to cover the noise of his breathing.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Captain Man could be heard asking, making Henry slightly impressed with his acting skills at being able to so accurately sound like a worried dad.

“Yeah, totally. I was just reading this book!”

“Is that why I heard shouting?” Ray asked, the disapproving face he was making very obvious in his tone of voice.

“Yeah, I was reading out loud because I was bored and I forgot to charge my phone. That’s all!”

_Wow! Even if I didn’t know this is all bullshit, I would still know that was a lie._

“You’re not a very good liar,” Ray seemed to agree with him.

“Okay, fine. I was watching Click Clocks of this really cute boy I like.”

_Only slightly more believable._

“And you felt the need to hide this from me, why?” Henry peaked out and saw Ray in full Captain Man gear, so turned the phone back around to show him standing in the doorway with his hands pressed firmly on his hips, giving the performance of a lifetime.

“Because I know how you get around people I like and he’s from Swellview. I didn’t want you to go all disapproving like you are now.” The Henry on the bed coughed again, managing to make it extremely chesty.

“Not to sound like a broken record, but are you actually okay?” Ray asked, arms falling to his side.

“Okay, so my chest hurts, but no more than usual. I’ll be fine tomorrow. Though a glass of water wouldn’t hurt.” He said, effectively dismissing Captain Man, who nodded and left the room. As soon as the coast was clear, future Henry scampered out of bed and closed the bedroom door. Present Henry let himself out of the closet.

“Wow! That was close!” He laughed, turning the phone so that both he and Kid Danger were in shot.

“Yes, too close! You need to leave before he gets back.” Said a very serious Kid Danger, before reaching over and ending the recording. The video was just over three minutes long. “But, for realsies, you need to go. School starts soon and I’ve got wash all this off my face.” Kid Danger said, gesturing to his face.

“I’ve sent Schwoz down to the time portal to set it up!” Ray called through the door, opening it slightly and holding a piece of gum out. “Transform on your way down.”

Henry grabbed the piece of gum and picked up the shirt he got dressed in that morning and chucking it at the semi-naked doppelganger heading back towards the en suite bathroom, who caught it with ease.

With a quick chew and pop, Kid Danger was rushing down the halls of the Man Cave and made his way down the tubes to the storage unit.

“Hey, Schwoz!” he called as he the tubes rose above him.

“Hello, Henry,” the little man responded, not looking up from his computer where he was typing in the last few pieces of data, “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“No worries,”

“And…done!”

The two blue lasers shot towards the centre of the ring, causing the portal to open up.

“This will send you to thirty minutes in the past and will deposit you in the middle of the main room. Now, remember! Everything must happen exactly as it just did or the universe will tear around itself and you, as you will not be coming back through this portal.” Schwoz wagged his finger emphatically at Henry as he said this, making Henry feel slightly anxious until he realised that he’d probably be fine.

“Okay, got it. Don’t change anything,” Henry nodded, before shaking himself down and running straight through the portal, calling, “Hey, Ray. Henry Hart will explain! I’ve got to collect some clothes.”

At the other end of the Man Cave, Henry Hart was washing his face of the now completely dried clay mask when it felt like the universe snapped into place around him. An involuntary sigh of relief escaped him as he removed the last of the clay.


	15. First Period

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry's luck does not seem to be getting any better. First, his teacher is refusing to listen to him, then he starts feeling guilty about everything that's happened, and then finally Ray calls him. This day is definitely the worst one of the week so far.

Quickly drying his face and pulling his shirt on and collecting his phone from his utility belt, Henry made his way to the main room, where he saw an amused Ray sat on the circular sofa, watching the security footage of Henry being shoved unceremoniously into the closet on repeat.

“That was funny,” Ray laughed as it happened again.

“I hope so, that was the point of it,” Henry agreed as he swooped to pick up his bag and made his way to the tube. “I’m gonna be late for class, so I’m gonna go. I’ll tidy up the room later.”

“Yeah, whatever. You can have the room if you’d like. There’s more spare ones.” He said dismissively, waving his hand in Henry’s vague direction.

“Oh, nice! Thanks!” Was the only reaction Henry allowed himself, before shooting himself “Up the tube!” to the unused storage closet attached to the outside of the school gym, next to the teachers car park at his school.

A quick peak confirmed that nobody was in the area and made his way into the school through the gym’s fire entrance. On his way over, he quickly changed his home screen to the selfie of Henry stretching to give Kid Danger a peck on the cheek while they were reclined against the white wall of the room that was now his.

Henry walked through the door to his history class just as the bell rung, breathing only slightly heavier due to being in such a rush and speed walking through the school.

“You, Henry Hart, are late,” Mrs. Shapen barked, standing at the front of the classroom, holding a heaping pile of papers.

“Uhuh, yup,” Henry replied distractedly as he found is seat and almost fell into it, really not wanting to deal with her weirdness today.

“Actually, he’s exactly on time,” Charlotte spoke up for him, “We’re all just early.”

“I suppose I have to give you that one,” Mrs. Shapen conceded, “but I’m only letting you off this once. Before we get started, I want you all to take out the homework I set you yesterday and place it on your desks.”

A quick panicked look around the room showed Henry that he was not the only person confused by this.

“But miss, yesterday was Sunday,” Jasper spoke for the class, only putting his hand up out of habit.

“Yes. That’s why I sent all of you an email. Don’t tell me you never check your school emails?” Everybody was looking extremely uncomfortable. “Charlotte, not even you?”

“To be perfectly honest, miss, I don’t think any of us were even aware we had school emails.” Charlotte was decidedly not looking at their teacher and was instead looking somewhere over her shoulder.

“And even if any of us _did_ check our emails, you can’t really blame us for not doing it, can you?” the usually quiet girl at the back who usually was found reading a new book every day piped up from the back.

“And why would that be, _Ruby_?” Mrs. Shapen spat, not pleased with her classes apparent lack of discipline. The class shared a look again as Henry felt himself slowly trying to hide from the stares of Jasper, Charlotte, and a couple of classmates who had been at the bus stop who hadn’t stopped glancing at him since he sat down.

“Haven’t you seen the news?” asked one of them, a boy behind Charlotte who Henry was pretty sure was called Brantley.

“Or social media?” added Morgan, the schools only (out) enby.

“Or listened to any of the conversations on your way here?” finished Teagan, the girl on the other side of Charlotte.

“No? Why would I? I’ve challenged myself to go media free for the next month, starting last Monday. And eavesdropping is rude! My therapist told me so.” Mrs. Shapen was looking far too smug for the energy in the room.

Henry looked from Charlotte, to Jasper, back to Charlotte, and then finally over to Mrs. Shapen. “So, you don’t know?” He asked, dubiously, especially considering her slightly creepy obsession with Captain Man.

“Know what,” she tutted, shifting her weight in impatience. Henry glanced around the room in disbelief, Ruby and Brantley catching his eyes as he passed them, giving him sad smiles, before looking back at Mrs Shapen.

“Kid Danger is dead,” he said, voice quieter due to the attention of everyone in his class being on him, and still slightly rough from that morning’s screaming.

“What? No, he’s not!”

An awkward, heavy silence filled the room following the snapped declaration. The students all avoided eye contact with each other as the statement settled over them.

“He can’t be!”

More silence.

“I don’t believe you. You are just lying to me to get out of trouble.” Mrs. Shapen decided, completely unaware of just how accurate that statement was to Henry, who had to quickly cover his face to hide the snort he felt rising.

“I can show you the livestream, if you want,” he offered as soon as he had his composure back.

“Okay. Go on then. Show me this ‘livestream’ you have. Whatever that means,” her horribly fake laugh falling upon uncomfortable ears as she plonked the pile of paper onto her desk and approached Henry.

By the time she was beside him, he had his phone in his hand and was quickly typing in his password, feeling slightly regretful for having his home screen changed to the selfie with himself. Despite his best efforts to open a browser quickly, she had already seen it and gasped.

“ _Please_ don’t ask questions,” he all but begged, quickly tucking his phone to his chest away from prying eyes, feeling the stares of his classmates on him (out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charlotte and Jasper exchange confused glances).

“Was that you and Kid Danger?” Mrs. Shapen’s shrill voice pierced his ears momentarily, causing an involuntary flinched. His friends’ curiosity had now been peaked.

“No! Please just lets me show you the thing!”

“Detention for lying, and not yet. I want answers!”

Henry felt a small part of his soul leave his body in despair at the situation he had got himself into. He had fully planned on telling his friends everything first, then letting Piper and her friends be the ones to find the photos. He would have had more control over the narrative then.

“Okay. Fine. Yes, that is a selfie of me and Kid Danger. No, I do not want to talk about it.”

“You were kissing him!” her shriek was loud enough to cause even the furthest people from him to flinch.

The stunned look on (almost) all of his classmates faces made the utter lack of control he had over the current situation slightly worth it. The most shocked faces, of course, being of Charlotte and Jasper who both knew it to be physically impossible.

“And he was smiling!” the pitch was getting higher.

“Okay! Yes! Fine! I kissed Kid Danger and took a selfie. He was cool with it! Can we please get back to the subject at hand of how _Kid Danger is dead!_ ” Henry felt slightly desperate, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die.

 _Why did I think this was a good idea? This was a terrible idea! If Ray thinks it’s a good idea, then it is definitely a bad one! When will I learn this!_ Henry could feel himself getting dangerously close to vibrating from sheer embarrassment and panic, only keeping calm through the grounding sensation of methodically rubbing the rough corner of his phone case.

Upon seeing that Mrs. Shapen was far too focussed on the contents of his phone than the words coming from his mouth Henry sent a pleading look towards Charlotte, who thankfully took initiative and approached the desktop computer and got to work turning it on.

“That looked like more than just being cool with it, young man!” She was still going, though Henry’s attention wasn’t really on her anymore. Instead, Ruby and Brantley had move closer together and whispering, occasionally sending quick glances up at Henry. “Where was that? Why was it so dark? Why were you snuggled up to him so closely? Do you know his boss? Can you give me his number? Wh-“

“Miss. You should probably stop asking questions,” Brantley finally spoke up, rising from his chair and deftly flicking his short micro dreads from his eyes. “He obviously doesn’t want to answer and you’re not even listening to him anyway.” He moved to become a physical barrier between the two.

Before Mrs. Shapen could answer, the voice of Captain Man came over the speakers, just as Jasper, who had at some point moved, used the remote to turn the screen at the front of the room on. They had managed to get a recording of the livestream up.

_“Hello everybody. I think the majority of you know why I’m here, but I feel like I should say it anyway.”_

With Mrs. Shapen properly distracted, Brantley turned fully to Henry, who was stood, motionless, breathing deeply and vigorously rubbing his phone case, focussing everything in him on staying still and not vibrating out of his skin in embarrassment.

“Hey, dude. You okay?” The usually barely noticeable Jamaican accent was much heavier in his concern.

“Yeah, yeah. Totally. Just trying to stay calm, is all.” Henry mumbled, attention not fully on the words coming from his mouth.

“You want to leave? I know what you said earlier at the bus stop, but I don’t think it’s gonna stay under wraps for long. Ruby has said she’s gonna try and talk to the class, not giving anything away. But Mrs. Shapen is her own can of worms.” The obvious intent was comfort, but the final sentence really negated the effect of anything else he’d said.

“Thanks man, but that really doesn’t help. But leaving would be nice.” Henry felt his attention being pulled back to the outside world as Brantley interacted with him more, taking his arm and physically leading him out of the room, where they both slumped against the far wall.

Now that he was away from the immediate stress, mortification settled in, hard. Causing an involuntary groan to escape him as he hid his face in his hands.

 _That went so badly! Ray should have told me ‘no’! Charlotte could have come up with a better excuse! Jasper could have kept his mouth shut! I could have just_ ignored the kid _! But did I? No. Did Jasper? No. Did Charlotte? No. Did Ray? No. Should I have thought things through more? Definitely._

“FUCK!” Henry threw his head back in a shout. Badly startling Brantley who had been rubbing his back consolingly.

“Dude!”

“Sorry! Sorry! I just….I really hate everything about this. The last few days have been some of the worst of my life, apart from maybe that one time Dr Minyak mind-controlled Charlotte to try and kill me and we weren’t sure if she’d ever be herself again.” Henry was nearly bent double in self-pity.

“Dude! What the fuck!” Brantley was obviously not prepared for the number of revelations he was having today. “Charlotte was mind-controlled? Wait, not important. Do you want to talk about it? Or anything?”

“Well, Saturday morning my sister told me that Kid Danger was dying, which nobody was supposed to know, then started planning to pour a load of rocks on her head, which would have killed her. Captain Man and Kid Danger managed to stop her. Then, there was a fire and I got a text saying that he’d been sent home early and to meet him there. I did and he was coughing. I was nearly caught and sent home with the promise of ‘see you tomorrow evening’. Yesterday, I received a garbled voicemail about how he wanted to see me and then he hung up. An hour later, Captain Man declared a livestream using Kid Dangers account and then I find out with the rest of the world that Kid Danger is dead.”

The story was told. There was no going back now. Though the heavy guilt that set in his chest for telling such a kind person such a deep lie would probably live with him forever.

“Blood fyah!” Brantley muttered, eyes wide in pity, “I’m so sorry, man. You didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye!”

Henry put on a big sigh. “I know,” he mumbled, pulling out his phone and unlocking it, showing his companion his home screen, “This is what she saw.”

Brantley held out his hand to take the phone, bringing it closer to his face to get a better look when Henry handed it over.

“That’s super sweet,” he said when he gave it back, uncertainty on how to carry the conversation obvious in his posture, though he kept his tone of voice calm.

“Yeah. I accidentally deleted all our pictures, videos, and stuff a few weeks ago and I was planning on trying to build them up again. I guess I didn’t have as much time as I thought,” Henry couldn’t look him in the eyes, guilt from lying pressing heavy on his mind.

_Why did I think this would be fun?_

“Oh shit, dude! I’m so sorry!” Brantley patted his knee in empathy, but the battle between being supportive and his natural curiosity was increasingly obvious. Until, finally, he gave in. “Can I see them? Only if it’s totally okay with you, of course.”

A small puddle of excitement bloomed in Henry’s chest despite his best efforts. He was rather proud of the last minute idea and the amount of effort he’d put into pulling it off, going so far as to harness the power of time travel, though the guilt was still pulling him down.

“Sure,” Henry pulled up the folder labelled ‘nerd boi’ that he’d sorted the ‘evidence’ from earlier into. It hadn’t even been an hour for the rest of the world (and just over an hour for him) since Charlotte had let his ‘secret’ slip and he was already showing off the pictures he’d taken with himself. Henry handed his phone over to Brantley and watched his reaction carefully, being sure to keep his face blank.

Brantley seemed to inspect each picture, a sombre expression marring his usually cheery features.

Though there were not that many selfies at all, it took him a while to get to the first video, causing him to burst out laughing in shock at the casual insults being thrown between what he thought were two separate loving boyfriends.

“Was he just casually reading _The Art of War_?” Brantley laughed in shock, before glancing up at Henry and sobering quickly.

 _Was I?_ “Yup. He said he wanted to be prepared for anything,” _Oh wow, I’m making Kid Danger sound like a massive nerd. I don’t want to ruin my reputation._

“I guess it makes sense, fighting all sorts of mentally unstable villains so often must mean it’s a good idea to always expect the unexpected.”

“Yeah, like being that time at the talent show. I’m glad it was dealt with easily enough, though.”

“Oh yeah! Wasn’t your sister there? That must have been an anxiety nightmare for you for all of that.”

“Yeah, it sucked. Apparently, the guy was really insistent about people stroking his pet whatever it was. I don’t really remember a lot of it because it was very hectic, but it was most certainly an interesting couple of days.”

“What did Kid Danger think about it?”

 _Oh shit, yeah, he thinks we’re two different people._ A momentary brain fart allowed him to forget. “He said that some people are just too desperate for attention and if they get to that level then they should definitely invest in therapy.”

“Yeah, I can agree with that,” Brantley said, turning his attention back to his phone and looking over the picture of Henry with the mask in his mouth and a topless Kid Danger in the back. “Damn, boi,” was his appreciative response. Henry’s cheeks started to burn red at the unknowing compliment he’d just received.

Finally, Brantley scrolled to the thing Henry was most excited to see a reaction to, almost completely forgetting his guilt at the huge lie he was spreading.

The range of emotions Brantley managed to express in such a short period of time was rather comical.

He started off raising his eyebrow in appreciation at the sight of topless Henry (though he didn’t know it was Henry), then immediately frowned when Kid Danger coughed, probably realising the timeline for when the video was supposedly recorded. It was almost instantly replaced by a surprised snort at the antics of Henry as he started a competition with himself, followed by an actual laugh when Captain Man’s voice came through the door, and he continued to laugh as Henry was shoved into the closet and Kid Danger tried to lie, before being replaced by sudden sadness when a cough came and Captain Man was sent off like a maid to get water. Only slight amusement was left by the end of the video and, after attempting to scroll to find anything else, the sudden realisation that that was a recording of the last time Henry had seen Kid Danger (which wasn’t entirely untrue), and handed Henry his phone back.

“I’m so sorry, dude.”

“I’d say ‘it’s fine’ but it’d be a lie. So I’ll settle on ‘it will be fine,’” Henry carefully tucked his phone into his front pocket.

“That’s the best you can do right now,” Brantley leant further against the wall and gave the hallway a sweeping once over, before resting his head against the wall and closing his eyes. Henry copied him, noticing that the hallway was still completely empty.

The only noises that could be heard were the occasional murmurs that reached them through the surprisingly sound proof doors, and the booming voice of Captain Man being played at a dangerously loud volume, though the words themselves were muffled.

The silence gave Henry time to think as Brantley left to his own little world in his mind.

The past few days had been weird. It seemed to a constant stream of people saying things, others misinterpreting them, Henry doing something unrelated, then the world taking it as confirmation for whatever the misinterpretation was. And then, of course, Jasper had had to open his fat mouth. Of course, Henry could have just let people think he was lying, but there was no way that could have gone well.

If the weekend had told him anything, it was that it was best to be in control of the narrative, otherwise it could very easily grow too big or spread too far and the results could be disastrous (see, his sister nearly killing herself to try and raise awareness for a disease that doesn’t actually exist).

But Henry still felt that everything was still being set up for failure. It’s not like anything could be disproved unless someone somewhere found indisputable proof that Henry Hart was Kid Danger, which was also extremely unlikely to happen, unless he transformed in front of them, which he couldn’t because he no longer had his gum. But the impossibility of it happening didn’t make him feel any better. The lie was growing too big. Yes, it was easier and safer to say that Kid Danger was dead, because saying he was fired would mean that rumours would spread that he was dead, and there would also be the fact that he’s still alive and out in the world that could quite possibly paint a massive target on his back, or the back of anyone who certain people might think could possibly be the former Kid Danger.

But how that lead to getting carried away in the lie. It makes sense to have a fleshed out story that can hold up to vigorous questioning. But Henry was starting to feel really guilty for enjoying it so much. People were upset and his sister had cried. And then he’d gone and spilt his guts, taking the attention away from Piper, who needed the comfort the most. And now his entire family was worried about him and it was just gonna get worse. Then, of course, he’d decided to go with Charlotte’s excuse and had, once again, had fun with it. And no, it wasn’t a bad thing. But Henry felt increasingly more guilty every second as the realisation that he was throwing himself into the spotlight when there were probably some much more deserving people out there who could have it.

A heavy feeling of shame settled into Henry’s stomach as the realisation that he was almost purposefully making people sad, and then making them feel the need to pity him and give him comfort, when really it should be the other way around.

 _But the only way I can fix that would be to tell the world ‘Oh, by the way, I’m Kid Danger and I’m actually completely fine. I didn’t die, I wasn’t ill, and also, I’m not dating Henry Hart because I am, in fact, straight.’_ The last part didn’t feel entirely true, but now was not the time to focus on that. _I can deal with that when I’m older_ , he thought, before trying to find a way to relieve his guilt but not change the narrative, because, despite how much it sucks, it was, it was honestly the safest option they had right now. _I just wish I didn’t feel so bad about lying to all these people and ruining their moods._

A wobbly sigh escaped him as the shame and guilt grew and took over his entire self. Brantley shifted beside him.

“You can cry, y’know, dude. Ain’t no one gonna judge you for it. It’d probably do you some good.”

Henry chuckled sadly, “I’ve done enough of that. I’m kinda sick of crying to be honest. I just want to magically feel better and not like everything is going to fall apart around me at any moment.” The relief of being able to tell the truth about how he was feeling, at least, lifted his mood slightly.

“That’s a completely normal thing to feel,” Brantley reassured, causing Henry to open his eyes an look at him. His class mate, who he’d never really spoken to before today, was still leaning against the wall, but his head was turned and his full attention was on Henry, like it was a completely normal thing to do, trying to comfort an almost stranger through the hardest day of his life.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Henry had to know. He and Brantley had never really interacted before today. Sure, they’d been paired up maybe once for peer marking tests, but that was it. How could he go out of his way for somebody who barely ever turned up on time or did the homework given to them due to extraneous circumstances, usually causing trouble and disappointed lectures from their teachers.

“Because you’re human. Because I’m pretty damn sure you’d do the same for anyone else, though definitely be a lot more awkward about it. And you’ve just had the worst couple of days of your life. I have to say, you’d have to be pretty evil to not be at least a little nice to you, especially right now.”

Henry was shocked at that. He had spent so long looking after other people, making sure they were safe and okay, that he hadn’t even stopped to think about people doing the same for him. It was weird. It was nice.

A sudden vibration from his pocket prevented any further brooding. Quickly retrieving his phone from his pocket, he saw that it was Ray.

_What now?_

“What?” Henry asked as soon as he answered.

“Where are you? Why haven’t you been answering my calls? We’ve got an emergency!” Ray demanded on the other end of the line, clearly annoyed.

“Bro” Henry couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“What?”

“ _Bro_.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Are you actually an idiot, or did you just forget to turn your brain on this morning?” Henry could feel a headache coming on.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Ray was getting defensive.

“I’m at school. I will not be leaving. I cannot meet up with you.”

“What? Why not? You do it all the time!”

Yup, there’s the headache.

“Ray. Dude. Stop and think for a minute. About the conversation we had yesterday. And then tell me why I am not going.” Henry could feel Brantley’s gaze on him, but he was too busy trying (and failing) to rub his headache away.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone as Ray went through the events of the previous day.

“Oh yeah!” he laughed, completely unaware of Henry’s sigh of relief at not having to spell it out for him. “I fired you! Kid Danger is dead, now. Completely forgot, sorry.” He was very obviously not sorry.

“Can you at least tell me what it is? I’m kinda curious now.” Henry relented to his curiosity, now that he knew that he wouldn’t need to battle his bosses stubborn stupidity.

“Oh, yeah. Nothing big. Just some weird hole in space-time that appeared in the desert and couple hours out. Schwoz says it’s probably from an alternate dimension but we’re probably fine.”

If it wasn’t for Brantley catching it, Henry’s phone would have been in pieces on the floor.

“I’m sorry. WHAT!” Henry was still sat, motionless, hand empty. But he couldn’t quite register it yet. Everything around him seemed to have slowed down as his mind raced to catch up to what Ray had said.

“Dude, you okay?” Brantley asked, holding Henry’s phone out for him. Henry scrambled to get it back and put it to his ear, standing to start pacing.

“What the _fuck_! That’s not a normal thing! That is so not a normal thing! That is not something you should deal with alone! God knows what it actually is! Do you want me to meet you?”

“Nah, it’s fine. Schwoz says it’s probably just another version of us just experimenting with a thingy. It might be fun to tell an alternate version of us that Kid Danger is dead, actually. Get a good look at their features. I’ll record it for you so you can watch it after you’ve tidied up the mess in your room.”

Ray’s reassurances did little to calm Henry’s nerves. Yeah, it could just be another version of them experimenting with a doo-da, but it could equally likely be space demons or Cthulhu. The multiverse was infinite. Who knew what could come through that hole.

“Okay. If you’re sure. But please, _please_ , be careful. If you need me there, just call. I can make up an excuse and come find you.”

The level of concern Brantley had been displaying all morning was had now doubled, and then doubled again. The more Henry spoke into his phone the more it looked like he wanted to get up and take his phone off of him and give Ray a talking to.

Henry himself was fighting to keep his nerves under control, shoving one hand in his pocket and the other out of view next to his face to hide their vibrating.

“I said I’ll be fine. If something bad happens, we can find a way to sort it out then blame Schwoz.”

“But promise me you’ll call me if you need help,” he was not beyond begging, knowing that Ray would not break a promise to him.

“Ugh! Fine! I promise!”

Henry visibly relaxed, feeling his neck and back physically uncoil. “Okay. Good. But send me pictures if it’s something cool. And if you find Captain Man then promise me you’ll tell them and record the reaction.”

“You got it. Anyway, Schwoz is telling me off for still being here. I’ll text you later, kid,” and with that, he hung up.

Henry pulled his hand over his face.

“ _Fuuucckk_.” _It just seems to be one thing after the other, huh._ “I really need to talk to Charlotte and Jasper,” he decided, taking a fortifying breath and opening the door, and beckoning his friends quietly so as not to call attention to the rest of the distracted and crying classmates (and Mrs. Shapen).

_Why me?_


	16. Phone calls and Portals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry explains things to his friends, calls Captain Man, watches a funny shaped portal close, panics and pretend to cry, then confuses his friends by being a typical sibling with his sister.  
> Y'know, the normal events for a Monday morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is /really/ long. I'd apologise but it was fun to write, so I wouldn't exactly mean it, lol.  
> Y'know what they say. When in doubt, add more stuff.

**TW: Mildly homophobic language later in the chapter. Use of the word ‘qu**r’ as a slur**

“So, why are we here?” Charlotte asked from her place beside the mop bucket, looking around the cramped space of the janitors closet in disdain.

“Okay. Um. Well, first we kinda have to tell Ray that Captain Man needs to arrange a funeral for Kid Danger, but that is literally the least important thing right now,” Henry was so tired, but the frantic energy he’d gained from his call was keeping him going.

“How is that the least important thing? It seems pretty important to me,” Jasper said from his position leaning against the metal cabinet, being careful to avoid the leaky bleach.

“Well, um, there’s a hole in time and space open in the middle of the Swellview desert and Ray has gone to deal with it on his own.”

“ _What_?!” Came the chorused response.

“I _know_!”

“Why didn’t you go with him?!” Jasper asked.

“Because, and I can not stress this enough, _Kid Danger is dead!_ ” Henry was getting dangerously close to shouting right now, but managed to calm down, lowering his voice to a whisper, “And if I am randomly seen out and about, even if it’s for something big without an explanation, tongues are gonna wag and Captain Man and Kid Danger could become distrusted and possibly wanted criminals, worst case scenario.”

“Okay, so, what are we going to do about it?” Charlotte asked, managing to keep her cool, despite the raging wildfire of nerves that was the boy standing opposite her.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. It’s probably nothing. _But what if it’s not, though_. I can’t go out there and help him if it’s not nothing!”

“If it’s not nothing, he will probably call you and let you know, and Schwoz will probably build something to fix it. It’s not like we haven’t dealt with the multiverse before.”

“Wait, you have?” Jasper’s curiosity was peaked.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later when there’s less important things going on.” Henry patted vaguely in his direction, barely hitting his friend’s nose. “And you’re probably right, Charlotte. As usual. I just feel so powerless, y’know. I kinda feel like I’ve had a big part of myself ripped from me the last few days and we’ve been trying to build around it with lies and deceit. It’s not a good feeling.”

“I totally get that, I do. But I have some question, we both do.” Jasper nodded in agreement.

“I guessed you would. What do you want to know?”

“Well, first off, where did you go this morning? It takes way long than half an hour to walk to school from the bus stop.” Jasper asked first.

“Well, okay. So this is probably going to answer a lot of your questions at once, but I went to the Man Cave and used the Time Jerkers thingy to take selfies with myself as Kid Danger.”

A beat of silence.

“Okay, but why?” Charlotte’s hands were on her hips.

“Because you said that thing earlier and I don’t want people thinking you’re a liar, among other things.” Henry rubbed the back of his neck in awkward shame.

“Aww! That’s so sweet! You broke the laws of physics to keep my name clean!” Henry felt like dying inside. That was barely even a pinprick of a thought in his mind when he’d had the idea.

“Kinda?” he shrugged.

“What did it feel like?” Jasper wanted to know, standing upright from where he was to shift close into the conversation.

“Ooh, that’s a good one. Kinda like a weird tingling feeling wherever there was physical contact. I have a few videos, and the looks of discomfort you see on my face as Kid Danger are 100% real. I managed to keep it together pretty well though. The tingling wasn’t all that bad, but at the same time it felt like everything was telling us off all at once and we were ignoring it. It’s kinda hard to describe, really.” A thoughtful frown had settled onto Charlotte’s face. “You’re thinking, which means you have an idea. What is it?” Charlotte shook her head.

“It’s nothing. Probably nothing, anyway. We’ll talk about it later if it becomes relevant.” She dodged, effectively ending that train of conversation before it could begin. “Anyway, you said you took selfies with yourself. I want to see those, and also hear the plan you probably have.”

“Oh yeah! Show us the one of you kissing!” Jasper encouraged enthusiastically, moving to stand over Henry’s shoulder as he pulled out his phone to bring up his camera role.

“Okay, but don’t laugh. Well, actually, you can laugh, just don’t judge me too harshly.”

It only took ten minutes to show his friends the selfies and videos, but it felt like the longest ten minutes of his life. While they were lightly teasing him and generally bantering, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to Ray and wanted nothing more than to go and check on his boss, making sure that he was safe. There was no telling what could happen when it came to interdimensional portals.

“Bro, I can hear you worrying from out here. Phone him if you have to,” Jasper said from his place at his shoulder when the ‘closet’ video had finished playing for the second time.

“But I don’t want to distract him if he’s some kind of fight. I can’t go out and help anymore. He’s on his own.” Henry was biting his lip to distract himself with the small pain, but it wasn’t being entirely effective.

“Oh my god! You’re worse than when my cousin started getting separation anxiety. She’s four now and over it, but it was so annoying! ‘Charlotte, when’s mummy coming back? Is she coming back? Where did she go? Is she safe? Where’s mummy? Charlotte, where’s mummy?’ Ugh! Please, for everyone’s sake, just phone him.”

Henry felt bad, knowing that his worrying was annoying his friends, but he also knew they didn’t really blame him. They had had time and practice to get used to him and Ray going out into danger and not being able to help. Now it was Henry’s turn to learn.

“Okay, fine. But afterwards we do actually need to go back to lesson. It’s nearly over and I don’t want people asking questions,” He said as he quickly video called Ray’s phone. It took an entire agonising minute for him to answer, but when he did, Henry could almost feel the excited energy coming off of him.

“Dude, what took you so long?” Henry griped, annoyed with anxiety.

“I had to hide from the other us! Henry! The portal leads to another universe where everything is exactly the same except I didn’t fire you!” Ray was practically bouncing in excitement on the other side of the call. Henry’s interest was piqued now.

“Wait, really?”

“Yup! Everything’s exactly the same up until Saturday night where their Henry stayed behind because he thought it would be a bad idea to run around with heartburn.” A massive spike of jealousy flickered through Henry as soon as the words registered. That universes Henry Hart was having a completely normal time and wasn’t bogged down with the guilt of the lies he was telling. “What’s that face for?” Ray apparently noticed his sour mood.

“Oh. Nothing. Just the fact that there’s another version of me out there in the multiverse that is having a relatively normal few days and isn’t having to lie to everyone he meets and feel bad about it.” Henry bit, sarcasm lashing out in defence.

“Dude, it’s not that bad. They’re gonna pay attention to you for maybe a week then forget all about it.” Ray tried to comfort.

“They think my imaginary boyfriend is dead. The whole world thinks Kid Danger is dead, who, according to Charlotte, was dating Henry Hart. And people are slowly finding out about the dating thing. It’s gonna take so much longer than a week for people to forget about this.” A pointed look was given to everyone gathered, especially Charlotte, who shrunk back slightly in defence and pointed an accusatory finger at Jasper, who gasped.

“I don’t get why you’re so worked up about it. Just think of it as the worlds biggest prank,” Ray was being surprisingly comforting, seeming to know that the reminder that this was all just a prank (bro) would make him feel better.

“I guess,” Henry sighed, leaning a little of his weight on Jasper, seeing as he was so close and it was so easy to do so, “but you’re gonna need to hold a funeral for me. People are getting impatient.”

It was hard to see through the mask, but Henry was pretty sure that Ray’s eyebrows shot up in shock.

“Oh _shit!_ I forgot about a funeral!”

“Yeah, no duh! Apparently the Vice Mayor has been trying to contact you.”

“ _Him_? Why?”

“Because apparently he wants to have a big funeral. Or, if you have one planned yourself, then a memorial. I say we should probably say a memorial so you don’t have to explain why there’s no body.”

“Sound idea, kid. Now, I need to get back to the portal so they don’t wonder why I was gone for so long. They think I’m talking to Shwoz.”

“Oh, _ew!_ Why’d you tell them that?”

“Well, I was actually going to call him about recording the next bit of the conversation through the mask cam. But now that you’re here, I can tell them the thing you asked me to record.”

It took a moment for Henry to catch on.

“Oh yeah! Can you asked Schwoz to patch my phone through the Man Cave computer so that we can watch from here.”

“But didn’t you _just_ say that we need to get back to class?” Charlotte was quickly shushed.

“Will do. I’ll hang up. You phone back in – I’ll say three minutes is enough time.”

“Alright. Call you soon,” and with that, the call ended.

“Guys, lessons gonna end soon. You can’t be missing for the start of second period as well.” Charlotte was giving them The Look™.

“Okay. But, consider this. We’re about to watch Captain Man tell another version of himself and me that I’m dead. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don’t you want to see how Ray would react if I _actually_ died?” A thoughtful look fell over Charlotte’s face.

“Okay, fine. But _then_ we’re going to class.”

“Agreed,” the boys chorused, making room for Charlotte to lean on them as well.

“And, if anybody walks in here, Henry, you were crying. Don’t turn around and let me handle it, okay?” She decided, getting a nod in response. “Okay, it’s What should we do for the remaining minute?”

“How do you think they’re gonna react?” Jasper asked, resting his chin on Henry’s shoulder so he had a good view of the phone without straining.

“I think other you is going to get really sad and a bit weirded out. The other Ray might get angry and weird.” Charlotte responded, wiggling a bit until she was squeezed next to Henry’s other shoulder and leaning back on him slightly so that if anybody entered the room they wouldn’t be able to see the phone.

“I also think other Ray will get angry. And other me might get really awkward but will probably feel really bad for our one and be kinda perturbed. That’s how I’d feel, anyway.”

“Ten bucks that at least one hug happens.” Jasper said, just a bit too loudly for how close he was to Henry’s ear.

“Unrealistic”

“No way”

“I’m telling you, it’s gonna happen.”

“Welp, we’ll find out soon enough. Give him a call, Henry.”

And with that, the phone was ringing again. After three rings, it was picked up.

Through the phone the friends could see what could only be described as a rip in the universe. A burning golden, uneven portal was floating just above the ground in the middle of the desert, occasionally giving off bright purple, pink, and blue sparks which floated up into space instead of falling like expected. Even as they watched, it seemed the tear was slowly closing back on itself, like flesh over a wound. Through the portal stood Captain Man and Kid Danger, both looking slightly annoyed but extremely fascinated.

“So, we’ve told you everything about our universe. Are you going to tell us what’s different in yours?” The Captain Man on the other side of the portal asked, placing his fist on his hip.

The group heard Ray put on a massive, sad sigh. “Everything is exactly the same,” he started, and then left it hanging. They could only assume that he was doing his sad face.

“If it’s exactly the same, then where’s the other me?” Henry’s duplicate asked, sticking his head through the portal to look around as though he was hiding just out of sight.

“Everything’s exactly the same,” Ray repeated, “Except Kid Danger is dead.”

The reaction was immediate. The other Henry lost his balance, falling through the portal as the other Ray dramatically gasped and covered his face in shock. Their Ray reached down and helped Kid Danger up from the floor. “Careful, Kid.”

Kid Danger was still stuttering and gaping like a goldfish. The trio couldn’t see Ray’s face, but something must have changed because Kid Danger was suddenly rushing forwards and hugging him, though Ray didn’t react.

“Hug him back, moron!” Jasper encouraged, “Sorry for calling you a moron.”

Ray didn’t reply, but made a tight noise of acknowledgment himself as he wrapped Kid Danger up in a big hug, standing as straight as possible and then even further onto his toes so that he could place his head on top of Kid Danger’s. Kid Danger shifted slightly to adjust as bent his knees to make it easier.

“You both owe me ten bucks,” Jasper laughed. From Kid Danger’s reaction on the screen, Ray had tensed up at that, very obviously wanting to respond but knowing he couldn’t.

The Captain Man on the other side of the portal finally got over his shock. “How did it happen?”

“Yeah…uh…um…” Ray was obviously stalling. Henry could practically hear him trying to telepathically scream at them to come up with an answer.

“I tried to stop Piper from doing the Rock Box Dump,” Henry supplied for him, quickly coming up with the most believable situation. He felt Charlotte and Jasper nodding against him.

“We got there too late to stop Piper from doing the Rock Box Dump. He pushed her out of the way with his hypermotility, and…” Ray petered off, not knowing where to go from there. Apparently, the other version of him filled in the blanks for him.

“And he was crushed to death. Is that why you opened this portal? To find another Kid Danger so you could steal him?”

The collective shock felt by everyone other than the alternate Captain Man was palpable. Immediately, the other Henry removed himself from Ray’s hug and took a step back, falling through the still closing portal.

“Is that true?” Kid Danger asked, looking at Ray with sadness.

“What? _No_! Why would I do that? I thought you opened this portal!”

Captain Man relaxed slightly and leaned over to give his Kid Danger a sideways hug, failing to discretely check him over as if he, too, were about to unexpectedly die.

“Ha! Twenty bucks!”

“Jasper, my ear!”

“That’s not how bets work.”

“So, if you didn’t make the portal and we didn’t make the portal, then where did it come from?” Alternate Kid Danger asked, looking between the two Captain Mans.

“No idea,” Ray shrugged, “but I’m-“

“Ray! Emergency call!” Schwoz’s voice interrupted him mid-sentence, coming through uncomfortably loud.

“Ow! Schwoz! Not so loud!” Ray visibly flinched, camera momentarily pointing towards the ground.

“Sorry,” the volume had been sorted, “There’s an emergency call coming through from the vice mayor.”

“Vice mayor, you say? Why don’t you add him to the channel? And _don’t speak_.” The last part was definitely more for Henry’s benefit than anyone else, as he was probably the most likely to forget. The Captain Man and Kid Danger on the other side of the portal were watching in fascination, whispering to each other about what they thought the Schwoz on the other end of the line was saying.

* * *

“Okay. Do you have your watch on you? I can make his hologram appear if you like,”

“Fine, if you must,” Ray sighed, exhaustion from dealing with emotions and people over the last few days getting to him slightly. As soon as the words left his mouth, a tiny holographic vice-mayor appeared over Ray’s wrist.

“Captain Man. How wonderful of you to pick up,” the bite in his voice souring the sentiment slightly.

“I’ve been busy. I am currently busy. What is it you need?” Ray asked, completely monotone in boredom and the general sense of really not wanting to talk to this guy.

“I have been calling you all day. I eventually decided to use the emergency line because you’ve been ignoring me.”

“I haven’t been ignoring you. As I said, I’ve been busy. Look.” Ray twisted his wrist around to show the vice-mayor the literal hole in the fabric of reality standing before them.

“Oh dear lord! What’s that? Is that Kid Danger? But I thought he was dead!”

“Yes. That’s Kid Danger. And also another version of me. That is a portal between two different universes of dimensions, not sure which yet, that appeared this morning. Neither side know what caused it. So, as you can see, _I’m busy_.”

Henry felt for Ray. The vice-mayor had been getting more needy lately, constantly calling for even the smallest thing. And this seemed to be the last straw for him.

“Well, as interesting as that sounds, it looks like it’s closing on it’s own, so I doubt there’s much to worry about.”

A low frustrated growl made it’s way through the phone speakers.

“But I need to know what you’re planning to do for a funeral. I know it my feel a bit early, but it needs to be done. The people of Swellview are demanding it.”

“Look, vice-mayor Willard. Quite frankly, the funeral is none of your business. You can hold a memorial and I may even show up. But leave the funeral alone.”

Charlotte, Jasper, and Henry all gave each other impressed looks at Ray’s acting skills. They had definitely been improving recently. A bell rang in the distance.

“You are being unnecessarily rude.”

“Actually,” Kid Danger said, unknowingly stopping Henry from saying anything and making a mistake, “you are being extremely inconsiderate and a bit of an arse,” Willard turned to look up at Kid Danger on the other side of the portal, which was now roughly the width of a door, the height of a dishwasher, and floating at such a height off the ground the Kid Danger and Captain Man had to duck slightly to look through.

“This Captain Man just lost his Kid. You could at least pretend to be a little courteous,” Captain Man added, reaching through to wag his finger at the hologram.

“Ooh, look at you, using big words,”

“Shut up,”

“Wait, he was you kid?” the shocked Willard asked, completely forgetting about being called a rude arse by a sort of dead teenager.

“What? Wait, ‘kid’ as in ‘Kid’ or ‘kid’?” A confused Ray asked.

“What? You’re just saying the same thing over again.” A now equally confused vice-mayor complained. “Was Kid Danger your kid?”

“I don’t understand the question.”

“Oh my god. He’s asking if we -um- you were family, you dense potato,” an exasperated Kid Danger called from the ever decreasing portal.

“Oh! In which case, yes.” Ray said with utmost confidence, not understanding what he’d just done.

All three friends in the school storage closet facepalmed simultaneously, the only thing keeping them from saying anything being the amusement they were feeling towards the entire situation.

“Oh. I didn’t know that. Though it does make sense. I guess people just assumed that you dragged a random boy with you everywhere.”

‘That’s exactly what he did,’ Henry mouthed at his friends, who covered their mouths to hide their laughter as another bell was heard from outside the door.

“Yeah. Anyway, go away. I’m busy and I have a funeral to arrange,” the ‘apparently’ was silent, but Henry could hear it clear as day.

Before Vice-Mayor Willard could respond, he disappeared.

“There. I hung up on him,” came Schwoz’s voice from the Man Cave.

“Thank you, I was very close to throwing my watch through the portal. I don’t like him.”

“Dude! You just told the vice-mayor that I’m your son, you buffoon!” Henry couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, soon followed by Charlotte, Jasper, and Schwoz.

“Oh _no!_ I did, didn’t I!” Now it was Ray’s turn to facepalm.

“Just realise what he was asking?” Kid Danger asked, amused, now barely visible beside his own hero in the portal.

“Yes. Yes, I did. Laugh it up, you lot. But I’m going to find a way to blame this on you, Jasper.” Ray said, dropping all pretences that he wasn’t on a call.

“Wait, Jasper’s there as well?” Captain Man asked, startled.

“Yup. The whole gangs here,” Ray tapped the earpiece.

“Can they see or hear us?” Kid Danger asked, leaning even further to still be seen.

Henry cringed, knowing what was coming, and made the executive decision to stop it.

“Back on track, dude, but where did the portal come from. Ask them what their Schwoz has been doing.”

“Yeah, they can. And they’re asking where the portal came from. Has your Schwoz been playing with any portal, teleportation, or time thingies that could have caused this?”

“Oh. Yeah. He was experimenting with the Time Jerkers portal to see if he could make it into a gun. But it didn’t do anything.” Captain Man said, leaning almost double to be seen now. The portal was so close to closing that the only thing that could be seen of Kid Danger was his hand as it waved to his friends (and Henry) through the camera that Ray was wearing.

“Well apparently it did,” said Charlotte, who was then parroted by Ray.

Just as someone from the other dimension said something, a massive bang from the closet door scared the three teenagers stood inside, causing a unified scream.

Henry, barely remembering the plan, quickly hid his phone in his sleeve, forgetting to hang up in his rush, and covered his face, trying his best to sound like he was crying.

“Kids?” Ray could be heard calling from Henry’s arm. Before he could respond, however, another bang was heard before the door opened with a creak.

“What are you three doing in here?” An angry male voice came from behind Henry.

“Kids, what’s going on?”

Henry pretended to sob louder, trying to cover the sound of Ray worrying from the desert.

“Please, just leave us be. We’re not hurting anyone.” Jasper tried his best to sound calm, but the sudden adrenaline of being caught while watching a live feed of a portal to another universe while they should be lesson made him fail miserably.

“Charlotte, you’re the smart one, answer me,” Ray was sounding surprisingly worried, though nobody else could hear him from where the phone had slipped down Henry’s sleeve to be tucked in his elbow, blocking the speaker with his skin, and his loud ‘sobbing’.

“You shouldn’t be here, and as such, you’ll be coming with me.” The man reached out to take Henry’s elbow and, sensing what was going to happen and not wanting to have to explain why he was on a call with someone who was next to a tear in reality, reacted on instinct and shrunk away from the touch, leaning into Jasper completely, trusting that the other boy would be able to hold him upright and not let him fall.

“Don’t touch me!” Henry pseudo screamed, keeping his face thoroughly covered to hide his lack of tears. Charlotte, thankfully, caught on to what was happening and became a visual barrier between the temporary repairman that the school had hired to wire in a new set of speakers in the teachers’ lounge.

“Just leave us alone.”

While the man was distracted, Henry quickly turned his full body into Jasper who was awkwardly holding him, unsure of what was going on.

“Kids, you’re really worrying me now. What’s going on.”

Henry couldn’t respond without drawing suspicion as he tried to manoeuvre his arm so that the phone slid down his sleeve and into his hand as discreetly as possible while still making crying noises. Jasper finally caught on to what was happening.

“Here, let me help,” he whispered as he placed his hand on Henry’s arm and managed to grab the phone through the fabric and started the arduous task of sending a phone upwards through fabric in an enclosed space.

“Stay wherever you are,” Ray could be heard saying from Henry’s forearm.

“No,” Henry cried into his arm, hoping that Ray would realise he was talking to him.

“I’m coming for you,” Ray was getting himself worked up, but Henry didn’t have time to deal with that right now. He had to hang up before the repairman saw something incriminating on his phone.

“Stop. Don’t.” He managed to say into his arm just as Jasper managed to free his phone and Henry was finally able to hang up.

“Don’t _what_ , boy? Give you detention for skipping class and being somewhere you shouldn’t?”

“Wow, you’re heartless.” Said a voice that sounded suspiciously like Piper’s from behind the man.

“And what makes you say that, little miss?” sneered the man as he turned around.

“The fact that my brother is in there sobbing his heart out because his boyfriend is dead and you’re here threatening to give him detention.” That was definitely Piper.

At the reminder of the ‘boyfriend’ excuse, Henry had to physically fight down the urge to groan.

“Wait, he’s a queer?” The large man guffawed, “and to think, I was gonna touch him. Ew.”

Henry felt something deep and primal wake up inside of him as an ungodly rage filled him. Never once had he felt so insulted or more certain that if an afterlife existed, then this person was definitely going to hell.

Apparently, his friends and Piper were having the same reaction.

“Excuse me?”

“Pardon?”

“You _dare_ say that about my brother?!”

And before even Henry could react, Piper had leaped and landed on the homophobe, grabbing him by his tightly cut hair and _pulling_ as she screamed bloody murder.

At the commotion, the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps could be heard rushing down the corridors.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the voice of Miss Becker, the principal.

“This disgusting homophobe tried grabbing my brother,” snarled Piper from her position on top of the man, who was thrashing to get her off.

Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, two security guards who had been hired for the foreseeable future after Captain Man had all but declared he would be taking some time off, picked Piper off the man with little effort and then grabbed the man, forcing him to his knee so that it would be harder for him to escape.

“You tried to grab a student of this school. A minor. Care to explain why?” Miss Becker sniped sharply, looking down her hooked nose at the man before her.

“I was going to take him and his friends to you to get them detentions for skipping class.”

“I don’t care. You don’t grab minors. Get him out of here,” at her dismissal, the security guards removed the homophobe from Henry’s sight. As this had been going on, Henry had been vigorously rubbing his face to make it red and puffy like he’d been crying. As soon as the man was gone, he stepped out of the closet, his friends directly behind him.

“Mr. Hart, are you okay?” Miss Becker asked, having to look up slightly to see his face clearly, giving him a quick once over to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

“Yeah. He didn’t actually touch me. I got out of the way. I was just crying.” Henry gave a weak nod, feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

“Ah. I have heard rumours of you relationship with a certain-“

“Who from?” Henry accidently interrupted, slightly annoyed that people hadn’t respected his wished, even if he actually supposedly wanted the rumour spreading.

An annoyed expression passed over Miss Becker’s face, but she let it drop. “Mrs. Shapen,” she answered instead.

“And how many people has she told?” Charlotte asked cautiously.

“Everybody in the staff room in second period. So about seven people.”

It felt like the floor had fallen out from under him for half a second. That was a lot of people who could reach a lot more people in next to no time. He knew for a fact that one of the English teachers here was related to Mary Gaperman. It wouldn’t be more than a day, max, until he was being hounded for interviews.

“Is there any way, whatsoever, to do damage control?” Henry asked, slightly desperate. _One normal day. That’s all I want. Or an hour. I’d go for a normal hour, at this point_.

“It seems doubtful, I’m afraid,” Miss Becker’s tone was heavy in sad sympathy, cottoning on to the fact that he really did not want to be the centre of attention, and instead turned to his sister.

“And what are you doing here? You don’t even go to this school yet.”

“My friend, Rachel, received a text from Ruby, a girl in Henry’s class, that things had got a bit messy in first period and he’d had to leave and had gone off with his friends and people were concerned so I came here to find him and check on him.” Piper said, as though it was the most normal thing for her to do. The increasingly familiar warmth of gratitude and feeling loved spread through his system, causing him to smile softly at his little sister.

“Well, that is very kind of you, and as you can see, he is fine. I’ll let you talk to him, but then I will escort you back to your school while your brother and his friends head on to class,” Miss Becker decided, before stepping out of sight to give the minors a sense of privacy.

“So, how are you feeling?” Piper asked, approaching her brother with little care and giving him a friendly sock in the arm.

“Death is coming and it tastes like chocolate,” Henry whined, poking Piper in the side in retaliation, meaning ‘I feel like death and really want some chocolate ice-cream right now’.

“We’ll get ice-cream after school, then,” she responded, as if what Henry had just said made any sense at all. The confused looks on Jasper and Charlotte’s faces gave him an idea.

“Teeth or Christmas?” ‘Mint chocolate chip or chocolate orange flavour?’

“Milk” Piper responded, meaning ‘chocolate with cookie dough, duh.’

“Oh, yeah. Sensible,” Henry grinned, adrenaline from the panicked end of the phone call fading as he spouted what would be nonsense to anybody else with his sister.

“ _What_ are you _saying_?” demanded Jasper.

“You wouldn’t get it,” Piper laughed, “I’ll meet you outside school at the end of the day. Don’t you dare ditch me!” She threatened, finger wagging, as she walked backwards around the corner to meet up with Miss Becker to be returned to her school nearby.

“We should probably head to Biology,” sighed Charlotte, setting off in the opposite direction, followed by a groaning pair of boys. “Oh don’t give me that.”

Henry stuck his tongue out at her back as they, too, disappeared around the corner.


	17. DNRay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Henry thinks is going to be a normal lesson gets derailed majorly by the consequences of his own actions, then continuously derailed by Ray Manchester being himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't lie, I kinda fell into a bit of a hole while writing this and now I suddenly have my passion back for genetic biology, which I thought I lost halfway through my first year of A-levels.
> 
> Also, it has been a few years since I was actually in a lab class that anything wrong can be blamed on that lol

Despite their initial trepidation of walking into a lesson halfway through, as soon as they did, Henry and his friends realised just how supportive their classmates were. They had arranged themselves so that there were three people sat next to empty spots, taking extra notes, with the stuff that they had left in Mrs. Shapen’s class in the empty seats. When they walked in, the class collectively glanced at them and then went back to their work so as not to put the pressure of thirty pairs of eyes onto the latecomer, and the people next to the empty seats cleared the stalls for the friends to sit down in.

It was nice to be reminded of humanity's inherent goodness sometimes.

Jasper, Charlotte, and Henry all sat next to Teagan, Ruby, and Brantley respectively. Thankfully for them, Mr. Rahim was absent from the room (“gone to collect our marked tests from last week” Brantley explained) so there was no extra disruption, and they were allowed to quickly read over the notes for what they’d missed. Apparently, they were learning about DNA and RNA sequencing today.

After that, the lesson went smoothly. Mr. Rahim didn’t mention anything about Henry and his friends being late, and just handed the marked tests out. They went through each answer and then all worked through one together that the entire class had got wrong. Seeing as it was a double period, there was no rush to get to learning the new topic in just one hour, which allowed a much more relaxed atmosphere as well.

But Henry could tell that people were being careful. When he held his hand up to answer a question, his classmates would avoid his eyes, and Mr. Rahim only called on him when nobody else knew the answer, his voice a lot more gentle and deliberate than when he was calling on the other students.

After the third time it happened, Henry caught Charlotte’s look and couldn’t help rolling his eyes discreetly at her, receiving a sympathetic nod in response.

It was only as the first hour was coming to an end that the building sense of dread that he had been actively ignoring since he’d unceremoniously hung up on Ray came to a head.

Henry was sat hunched over his test, correcting his last answer with his class notes, when a commotion could be heard through the windows which lead to the main carpark out the front of the school. Unfortunately, the windows were closed so no words could be made out. When the shouting faded, he let himself hope that it was nothing more than rowdy teenagers getting into trouble, and not who he thought it was.

That hope was soon crushed, however, when the shouting emerged from the end of the hall. The open door allowed the entire class to perfectly hear a partially hysterical Captain Man calling for Henry Hart.

Henry couldn’t move as he felt his blood drain from his face in embarrassed horror. Apparently, he’d not been at all clear in his cryptic message that he was actually fine. Apparently, his total lack of a physical reaction was all his classmates needed before they sprung into action. Morgan and their desk partner, Jude, were already up and out of their seat, firmly closing the door and blocking it with a desk, while Brantley grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a confused Mr. Rahim’s desk, gently manhandling him in such a way that Henry was safely hidden from the view of the window in the door.

By the time Henry was able to gather his bearings, the entire class had rearranged themselves to make it look like there wasn’t anybody missing in the room, while Jasper and Charlotte were sat in stunned confusion, and Ray was stood panting outside the door, raising his fist to bang on it to be let it.

“Henry! I need to see Henry! I know he’s in there!”

The aforementioned boy made a move to stand up, but Mr. Rahim seemed to be in on the classes plot, and firmly held him down, discreetly putting his finger to his lip.

 _What do they think is going to happen?_ Henry asked himself, _do they think he’s gonna kill me for apparently dating his sidekick?_

Apparently, Charlotte and Jasper were just as trapped. Henry could see Ruby and Teagan grabbing his friends' legs in such a way that moving would be painful.

“I’m fine, seriously,” he looked up at the teacher trying to protect him from Captain Man’s imagined wrath, “just let me see what he wants.”

“No, fata, we will keep you safe from him. It is obvious the rumours have reached him. Your classmates explained to me why you were late. And it is my duty as your teacher to keep you safe,” the kind teacher really wasn’t getting the message.

“Does he sound angry to you?” an exasperated Charlotte asked, gesturing to the door where Ray was still trying to force his way in, and had in fact made a little progress, with the heavy lab desk now six inches further back from the door than it had been placed, calling to be let in loud enough to almost drown out the sound of the bell signalling that the fifteen-minute break had started.

The momentary distraction as Mr. Rahim actually listened to Captain Man’s begging was enough for Henry to slip out from under the desk and dodge the grabbing hands of his classmates as he rushed to the door.

As soon as Ray saw him, Henry physically watched the desperation leave the man’s body.

“You’re okay,” he sighed in relief.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Why were you so worried?”

The look Henry received was enough to make even ice melt in the coldest of environments.

“You are family. And when I heard all of _that_ of course I was going to get worried. And then you didn’t actually _answer me_! What was I supposed to think?” Captain Man’s parental fear was now slowly being replaced by relieved annoyance.

“I tried to communicate with you that you didn’t need to come here,” Henry threw his arms up in equal annoyance at himself and the situation.

“Well, you didn’t do it very well.”

By this point, Charlotte and Jasper had joined Henry at the door and were moving to remove the desk, which Henry saw and gave them a hand with.

As soon as the door was could open enough, Ray barged his way through and grabbed Henry into a relieved hug, causing a ripple of murmurs to pass through the room.

“How’d you find me, anyway?” Asked Henry, awkwardly patting Ray on the back after the hug had lasted just slightly too long, then pulling away.

“Schwiiieeee – I tracked your phone from the call.” Ray quickly corrected himself.

“Okay, okay, okay. We should probably take this somewhere else,” Henry started leading Captain Ma back out of the door he had just barged into.

“I think not,” Mr. Rahim interrupted, “You’ve already missed a sizeable chunk of your education today, for good reason, but I cannot allow you to leave now no matter who it is you are with.” A chorus of groans made came from the group by the doorway. “So, unless Captain Man feels like sitting in on a biology lesson about DNA, then it is probably time for you to leave, sir, and let these children get back to learning.”

Though his face was mostly hidden behind his mask, it was clear to anyone looking that he was reluctant to leave.

“Or you could stay?” Jasper phrased it as a question, but the intent was obviously a demand.

“Yeah, you said yourself that you never had a childhood after you were densitiesed. You can think of this as your chance to finally experience being a kid, even if it just for a short while,” Charlotte enthused, receiving encouraging nods from her friends.

“Wait, really?” the shocked question from behind her reminding them that there are things that normal civilians aren’t supposed to know. The group all shared a panicked look before Henry scooted slightly in front of his friend and faced the class.

“Yeah, Kid Danger told me,” he put on a sad smile, a glance over his shoulder telling him that Captain Man had done the same, “and I tell my friends everything.”

“Yes, even things that are supposed to stay secret,” the pointed comment was _definitely_ about the fact that Jasper and Charlotte were now on his pay roll.

“Not sorry, Man.”

“So, Captain Man. Are you staying?” Mr. Rahim asked, looking unsure of what he wanted the answer to be.

Ray looked over the class and then over his friends before making his decision. In the small amount of time it took, Henry felt his chest tighten in anxiety, not knowing what was going to happen if he said yes.

“I don’t see why not,” the pat on his shoulder sealed his fate. Captain Man was now stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder like it was the most normal thing for apparent strangers to do (he was actively trying to block what the connotations of the hug might mean to his classmates) and looking around for a spare seat to spend the next hour, voluntarily attending class.

Once again, as though they had been practicing for this moment, the class was once again shifting around with very little being said, until the desk was back in its place and room was made for Captain Man in such a way that at the front sat Henry, with Captain Man at the same desk as him to his right, Charlotte at a different desk to his right, Jasper behind her, and Brantley behind Henry, with Ruby beside Brantley, Teagan beside Jasper, and Morgan beside Charlotte, acting as a sort of barrier between the group and the rest of the curious class. The rest of the class were settled for the moment, put off by the temporary self-assigned bodyguards who were giving them death-glares, but Henry could tell that it wouldn’t last long.

“Perfect,” Mr. Rahim announced with a clap of his hands, “you will all be receiving green flags on the register for organisation and commitment to each other. Now, you do still have a few minutes before break is over, so if you want to grab a snack or just talk among yourselves, now would be a good time to do so,” and with that, he went to sit behind his desk and started typing furiously on his phone, presumably texting his partner or friends about what had just transpired.

As soon their teacher was sat down, the entire class erupted into chaos, though it was being herded away from Henry and his friends rather effectively.

“Dude! What the fuck!” Henry sharply whispered to his boss.

“We were on call, you all randomly screamed, you started crying, and then it sounded like somebody tried to grab you or hurt you. When I asked what was going on, you hung up. What else was I supposed to do other than panic? I had to make sure you were okay,” Ray angrily whispered back, covering his mouth with his hand so that people couldn’t lip-read him.

“I know that, and I’m sorry. But that’s not what I meant. I should have texted you, yes, but I was rather distracted by my sister beating the shit out of a guy who tried to drag me to the principles office then made homophobic remarks about me. It kinda slipped my mind.” Though it wasn’t visible behind his mask, the wrinkles forming on his forehead showed that with each word Henry said, Ray’s eyebrows were climbing further and further up his head.

“I’m sorry, _what?_ I have so many questions, but first, why was your sister here? I’m, like, 60% sure she doesn’t come here, and another 30% sure she just doesn’t go to school. And why was she – actually – y’know what? Never mind, she’s a little bit psycho. But why was she here?”

“Basically, things went kinda badly in Mrs. Shapen’s class and I started feeling really guilty and embarrassed, so Brantley,” Henry discreetly pointed his thumb over his shoulder, “took me out of class and I started telling my story, then you called so I grabbed the others and we hid away in the janitors closet. We were gone for a really long time and people in the class started to worry so, y’know, who best to track me down than my scarily efficient sister?”

“No, yeah, makes sense. But we’re gonna need to talk about what you’ve told them and how many people know. I think it’s safe to say that I have heard the rumours by now. We’ll just say that I got really angry or something.”

That got a laugh from Henry.

“Bro. There is absolutely no way you can pass whatever that was off as anger. We can just say it was a grief-induced mania or something. I’m pretty sure the world is going to ‘know’ that Kid Danger was your son, anyway, pretty soon. You know how bad Willard is at keeping gossip secret. Top secret security and/or budget things? Sure. But gossip? He’s worse than Piper and her friends.”

The look that fell across Ray’s face was alarming enough to momentarily pause the mumbling of anyone who could see it.

“I forgot about that,” Ray all but whimpered, hiding his face in his arms on the table in embarrassment. The sudden, very uncharacteristic, shift caused everybody to stop and look at him, as Henry awkwardly patted him on the back, fighting back a laugh.

“You’re an actual idiot,” Henry leaned close to murmur in his ear, getting close enough to the earpiece to faintly hear Schwoz echoing the sentiment.

“How am I supposed to deal with this?” Ray practically wailed, causing Henry to flinch back slightly at the sudden volume change.

Before Henry could answer, the bell signalling the end of break rang, and Mr. Rahim moved to stand at the front, removing his earbuds to properly pay attention to the class.

Henry promptly sat upright, fixing his books and pens to where he could get them easily and shifted his attention to the teacher at the front of the class.

“Now, class, despite the bizarre and disturbing events of the last few days, you are still expected to do the best you can. If _any_ of you, for any reason, need to be excused you can be, but you _must_ do so discreetly and come back when you’ve finished. And just because we have a special guest today does not give you an excuse to slack off. Now, I’m not entirely sure what he plans on doing,” a concerned but pointed look was sent Captain Man’s way, though he didn’t see it as he was still wallowing in self-pity in his arms, “but if what Charlotte said was true and you truly want to experience school life, then you must expect to be treated as I treat my actual students.” At the last part, he had moved to stand in front of the desk, looking down at the man who was even older than he was, who was looking up at him from his arms in confused resignation, “and that includes learning how to behave in class. I understand that you are going through a lot, but so is Henry, as I understand it, and he is still able to act civilised. The rules of this classroom are simple. Sit up straight, raise your hand to ask questions, yes even if you need to go save the day, you must wait for me to dismiss you, listen to me while I’m talking, and wear the correct equipment when doing experiments.”

Captain Man sat up straight with very little hesitation, nodding along to the rules, and quickly looked around himself for what Henry assumed were a piece of paper and a pen, which he discreetly slid in place in front of his boss without either of the men noticing. Upon spotting the paper, Ray wrote down the rules. Immediately, Mr. Rahim was brought up short.

  1. _Sit up._
  2. _Rase hand – eevn if day needs saving_
  3. _Lissn to teech_
  4. _Wair rite stuff for experiments_



Leaning in so that nobody but the two superpowered individuals could hear, Mr. Rahim discreetly asked, “Captain Man, I don’t want to sound rude, but how was your education? Miss Page mentioned that you didn’t have a proper childhood and I’m assuming that means you also didn’t go to school. Am I right in assuming that?”

The look of utter embarrassment on Ray’s face was enough to fuel Henry’s joy for the next month. Sure, he wasn’t proud of the satisfaction he got from seeing his boss and friend being ashamed of something he couldn’t help, but it sure was nice to see the great Captain Man being taken down a notch.

“My father took me out of school when I was eight to start training to be a superhero. He was more interested in seeing the limits of my indestructibility than my spelling. And yes, I know it’s bad. My kids tell me all the time, but I’ve never really put too much thought into it.” Ray whispered back, looking surprisingly serious.

The alarm on the teacher's face was enough to dampen Henry’s amusement.

“Testing your indestructibility? But can’t you still feel pain? I swear you’ve said it on the news before,” Henry had never really thought about that, and at the feeling of Ray tensing beside him, it finally hit what that must have meant.

_Oh shit!_

Ray nodded; the serious look he was giving Mr. Rahim deepened as understanding dawned on the younger man also as Henry felt the last of his enjoyment leave as quickly as it came.

_Holy crap, Ray’s dad sucked!_

“Well, if you ever would like a confidential private tutor, just hit me up. I have some friends who would be willing to help. And if you don’t want anybody else to know, then I will find times I am free,” the kindness the complete stranger was showing him seemed to be getting to Ray as he quickly ducked his head to avoid eye contact and glanced at Henry, who gave him an encouraging smile and a subtle thumbs up.

“Can I talk to you later about it?”

Mr. Rahim simply nodded before turning back to the rest of the class, who were all being extremely quiet trying to listen in on what the adults were saying. “Okay, class. To start off the topic of DNA, we’re going to be doing an experiment and extracting DNA from a kiwi fruit. I will be giving out worksheets and your task will be to follow the instructions at the top and fill out the questions at the bottom. If it doesn’t get finished by the end of the lesson, then you will have to finish for homework, due next week.” As he explained this, he moved around the room, handing out the worksheets, inconspicuously giving Henry both his own and Ray’s worksheet. “You will be working in pairs of your choo-“ Mr. Rahim seemed to realise the consequences of his words as everyone in the room immediately looked hopefully over to either Captain Man or Henry, “in fact, no. You will be working with your desk mate. If you have a problem with this, please talk to me privately and I will get it sorted.

“At the front of the room are the kiwis cut in half. It will be half of a kiwi per desk. If you need another then you can come and get one, but there are only twenty kiwis, so please be considerate. I only want one person per table walking about at once. There are small hand blenders dotted about the room, so please keep a wide berth of anyone using them. And, it should go without saying, but _keep your hands away from the blades_. Last year we had someone nearly lose a finger because they decided to unstick the rotor with their hands without turning it off at the plug first. He was fine, but let it be a warning.” The teacher was now stood at the front of the class and was looking everybody down with intensity, giving pointed looks to a few of the more careless students.

“Now, I would like one person from each desk to come and collect your half of the kiwi,” almost at once, the room sprang into action with partners fighting over who gets to go to the front desk, which just so happened to be directly in front of where Henry “the late Kid Danger’s boyfriend” Hart, Captain Man were seated.

Henry could feel the stares of his curious classmates on him, now that they were no longer trying to protect him, and Mr. Rahim was no longer demanding their attention. Feeling the need to avoid contact with anybody else at the moment, Henry leaned over to catch Ray’s eyes and noticed that he seemed to have zoned out as soon as his attention was dismissed (surprising Henry with the fact that he seemed to be super serious about not being kicked out and was following the rules surprisingly well).

“You okay, Man?” Henry asked, grabbing his attention by placing his hand on the man’s shoulder. Ray turned doubtful eyes on him, making a feeling of unease manifest itself within his psyche.

“Is it really that bad?”

 _What?_ “Wut?”

“Is my spelling really that bad? Do I really not know much? Am I really that stupid?” Ray emphasised, looking slightly lost at even the notion that he wasn’t completely perfect and didn’t know everything like he pretended to.

Henry felt a sigh try to fight its way out of him, but he refused to give it the satisfaction.

“I mean, kinda? Your spelling is terrible, but you’re not stupid. You were just never taught how to be a person properly. You were never allowed to make proper connections with people your own age, your limits were tested when instead you should have been in lesson learning about Of Mice And Men. You were being taught how to defend yourself from people twice your size when you should have been learning about Pythagoras. You were being tested on when you should have been playing football or rounders and making friends. So yeah, your spelling kinda sucks and you’re wrong a lot of the time about stuff that others assume is common knowledge, but it’s not your fault. Your dad was just a massive douchebag with a superhero obsession whose son got superpowers.” Henry had by now twisted Ray around so that they were facing each other, doing his best to keep his voice low to prevent others from overhearing, but he wasn’t sure how successful he was. However, he was comfortable in the fact that there was so much interesting gossip fuel already spread that morning alone that anything he said, for now, would get lost in the sea of whispers later.

“Should I get a tutor?” Captain Man practically breathed the question, he was whispering so quietly. Henry nodded, giving his shoulder a squeeze, feeling unsure about what to do in this situation.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to say anything by Charlotte moving to stand in front of the desk, two kiwi halves and a pair of goggles in hand, a poorly concealed look of concern marring her features behind her own goggles.

“I noticed you were having a moment, so got these for you. Is everything okay?”

Henry watched as the ‘Captain Man – superhero for the people who is always okay’ mask (metaphorical, not physical) fell into place, though the smile he gave to Charlotte was definitely meant to tell her how he really felt.

“I’m okay. I’m always okay.” The smile was definitely forced, but Charlotte didn’t mention it.

“Well, you can talk to us later about it. Right now, we have Kiwis to obliterate,” she placed their half of the kiwi on the table, keeping her voice low, and moved over to her desk, giving Henry a quick pat on the back as she passed.

It was then that Henry remembered they actually had instructions to follow. He handed Ray his and quickly skimmed over the instructions.

“Okay, so we’re going to need a pipet, beaker, test tube (plus holder), and a stirrer. Sir will give us the chemicals when we need it, I guess.”

“Okay, so where is everything?” Ray was gradually getting his excitement up at being able to do something normal and interesting.

“Well, I can just go get it, seeing as it’s only one person leaving the desk at once. But it would be really helpful if you read through the instructions and questions so we knew what we are supposed to be doing.” The bored ‘ _really’_ look Henry received was evidence enough that Ray was bouncing back to his Captain Man self. “Don’t argue! No! _I_ am going to collect our stuff. Because if I break it then the school insurance whatever will cover it. If you do – _don’t you give me that look! I know what you’re like –_ then you’ll have to pay for it out of your own pocket.” A smug sense of satisfaction grew as Henry watched Captain Man dramatically roll his eyes with a huff, causing Charlotte to giggle behind Henry, and a few repressed chuckles roll through the students at the desks within hearing range.

“You’re no fun,” Captain Man said, but relented anyway, bending over the sheet and taking genuine care to read through everything thoroughly, taking Henry by surprise once again.

It took Henry very little time to collect everything, trying his best to seem unapproachable, and very easily sidestepping those brave enough to do so anyway. By the time he arrived back at his desk, he noticed that Ray had taken one of Henry’s highlighters (blue, of course) and had gone through the entire first half of the sheet and highlighted all of the key points in the instructions as well as certain questions, and already a few of them were filled in.

“What does A, C, T, and G, mean?” Henry asked as he placed everything down carefully.

“Oh, it’s the initials for the phosphates that pair up in the DNA. Adenine pairs with Thymine and Cytosine with Guanine.” Henry felt himself short circuit for a second.

“And how do you know that?”

“A little birdy told me,” the quick flash of red and blue from Ray’s ear told him just who the little birdy really was.

“Okay, but I still don’t get what it means.”

A second passed as more barely noticeable flashing came from the small earpiece disguised to look like an oddly shaped lump in Captain Man’s ear.

“Okay. So, basically. The phosphates, A, T, C, and G are all attached to sugar in the sides of the DNA. When proteins need to be made for the body, big proteins travel down the DNA like a zip and reads the phosphates like, I don’t know brail. Then that information is sent off into the rest of the cell and proteins and stuff are made. But not all of the phosphates are read. There are certain bits of the DNA that is so tightly wound that it can’t be unzipped. And if it is unwound then dangerous things can happen, like cancer. Or if some phosphates are accidentally deleted, then it can cause issues like cystic fibrosis.”

By this point, the entire class had tuned in to the impromptu, rather stumbled lecture as Ray repeated the words Schwoz was saying to him, with even Mr. Rahim listening in interest and taking notes.

“In RNA, the thymine is replaced by uracil, which can be translated by the ribosomes, the big enzyme – you know what an enzyme is, right? Good – that acts like a 3D printer for the rest of the proteins in the body. But you don’t need to know that. I’m going to stop now.”

The last sentence was said rather pointedly to someone not physically there. The majority of the information had flown right over Henry’s (and a lot of his classmates) heads, only succeeding in making him more confused.

_What the hell is a phosphate? Wait, no. Not the time. We’ll probably learn that some other time. And if I still care tomorrow, I can just look it up._

“Okay, cool,” Henry said instead, “thanks,” he shot a nod directly down the camera to where he knew Schwoz was watching, “but we have an actual experiment to do. So, if you want to go blitz a kiwi, then that would be really useful.” Henry did not like the silence, even if it was just caused by people trying to untangle the boatload of very intense information they had been given without warning. Slowly, the class returned back to what they were doing, some even quickly hurrying to make notes in their books, with Charlotte sending Ray a proud glance and Jasper mouthing a quick ‘ _what the fuck_ ’ to Henry.

Ray moved to go to the nearest blitzer but was nearly fell back as Henry instinctively grabbed him and stopped him from leaving.

“Woah! What!” He exclaimed as he righted himself again.

“Sorry, here,” Henry turned his friend around and unceremoniously shoved a pair of goggles on over his mask.

“I’m indestructible. If anything goes in my eyes then no damage will be caused.”

“Yeah, but 1. It’s the rules, and 2. It would still hurt.”

At the reminder of the rules, all complaining ceased.

“Okay. Got it. I must wear goggle.” And with that, he was off.

After that, things went surprisingly smoothly for a while (apart from Ray nearly breaking a blitzer by sticking an indestructible finger in the blades to remove a stuck chunk of kiwi from it, getting a glare from an otherwise preoccupied Mr. Rahim), with the class all calmly mixing their washing up liquid and water in the beaker, then adding a little of the blended kiwi and salt mixture, before adding a little pineapple juice, using the pipet to transfer it into the test tube, and then finally adding the rubbing alcohol.

When everything was done for the moment, the proud smile Ray sent Henry was a pleasant moment for both of them.

“We just have to wait for a bit, now,” Captain Man said, his usual bravado almost completely missing as he had finally settled into the rhythm of being in a room of people twenty years younger than him.

“No. We still have to answer the questions,” Henry said, though he himself didn’t want to do them.

“Oh, c’mon, really?” Ray whined, seemingly forgetting that he was supposed to be a superhero.

“Yes, it’s one of the rules,” Charlotte said from her seat where she was filling them in herself.

“And sir said that you will be treated as a student, and students must do all the work assigned to them,” Brantley added from behind Henry, reminding him of his existence.

Henry did his best to raise an eyebrow as his boss, holding the sheet of paper out for him to take.

After a short stare down, Ray finally snatched it away with a short burst of breath, opening his mouth to say something. He was interrupted, though, by a sudden gasp of pain from Henry.

“Ah, _fudge nuggets and bicycle sticks_!” Henry exclaimed, not particularly wanting to get a detention, earning a few confused looks, “you just gave me a papercut!” He held out his hand to Ray to have a look.

“Well…” whatever he was going to say petered off as a large drop of blood fell and landed in the test tube. “You just ruined the experiment!” There was genuine distress barely hidden in his voice.

“Not quite,” Mr. Rahim called from the other end of the room where he had been helping a student with her question, “the experiment can be done with human DNA as well, we just don’t tend to do it because it either requires harming a student or rather unhygienically, rinsing your mouth with water and then spitting it into a beaker. So, it’s not the end of the world. We can compare yours to everybody else’s and see how human DNA differs to plant DNA. I haven’t done it in a few years so it will be fun to see.”

As their teacher was talking, Henry heard a small hiss of pain from diagonally behind him and turned just in time to see Jasper prick his own finger with a sharp piece of plastic he had broken off from his pen and squeeze a drop of blood into his own test tube.

“Jasper Dunlop, why?” Mr. Rahim half shouted in exasperation as soon as he noticed, making his way to stand between the two boys.

“Henry did it! I want to see what my DNA looks like as well!” Jasper immediately became defensive in a way that Henry recognised, realising there would be very little that would make Jasper back down, now.

“Before anybody else decides to put blood in their test tubes, _don’t._ ” Mr. Rahim glared across the entire body of students, catching the diabetic kid in the eye as she tried to discreetly use her blood test pen to prick her finger. “Now, I am going to go and get the first aid kit. Jasper and Henry, you are going to go and wash your hands, Captain Man, you are going to clear up the blood, then _everybody_ is going to answer the questions on the sheet. And do. Not. Test. Me. I have been very patient today but I do not have much more left in me,” and with that, he left the room.

In complete silence, everybody went about their business, Henry, Jasper, and Ray pulling faces at each other in annoyance, but doing their best to keep calm, not knowing when the teacher would be back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/extraction/howto/
> 
> If anybody actually wants to do the experiment, here is a link to the instructions.


	18. Henry Plans Murder (Among Other Things)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The experiment is complete, Ray refuses to use his brain, and Henry really deserves a break from all of the shit I put him through

It took ten minutes for Mr. Rahim to return to the classroom, and the level of patience the man was holding onto had obviously decreased on his trip.

“On what planet does it seem like a good idea to put the only first aid kit on this side of the school in the empty English room?” He sarcastically asked as he placed the box down in front of Henry, beckoning Jasper over to them, “but that doesn’t matter right now,” he visibly reigned his temper back in, knowing that there were many people in that room that didn’t deserve his ire. “I know that your cuts have probably closed up by now, but I still legally need to take a look at them and disinfect them,” the last part was directed to the two students in front of him.

Jasper was the first to have his cut inspected and disinfected with an alcoholic wipe, receiving a short lecture about disregard for basic safety and hygiene. When Henry held his hand out, a feeling of unease spread through him, as though he had done something wrong or was about to get into big trouble, though there was nothing to suggest such a thing.

“Huh! Your cut is a lot smaller than I first thought. Are you on blood thinners? Because the amount of blood on your desk is disproportionate to the size of the cut here.”

Henry shot a panicked look at Ray, who was too busy being distracted by the test tube to hear what was being said right next to his head. _Well, you’re no help at all!_

“Um, no. No blood thinners! I guess I just heal really fast,” Henry felt a nervous laugh bubble up in his chest, but he suppressed it well enough to keep a straight face.

“Well, enough weird things have happened today and over the last few days that I’m far too exhausted to think about it. But you should definitely talk to a doctor. It is highly unlikely you healed that fast, but excessive bleeding can be a symptom of many things, usually dangerous. I’m pretty sure it’s nothing, though.”

A pit of dread seemed to open up within Henry. He knew why there was too much blood for such a small cut. His hypermotility healed him slightly faster than most people. Where it may take up to six weeks for a broken toe to heal for a normal person, his had healed within three weeks when he had accidently kicked a step when he’d been tiredly walking up the stairs to bed a few months ago. Instead what he was afraid of was people, once again, assuming the worst and having to go through the whole palaver that he did on Saturday as Kid Danger. _Hopefully, nobody was listening_.

Before he could get sucked into a mental spiral, though, Mr. Rahim had completely finished and was packing the first aid kit and moving to place it on the shelf behind the desk.

“Now that that is sorted, as some of you have noticed, all of your experiments should be done by now. The white stringy substance floating at the top of the tube is the DNA,” a chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ met this revelation as everybody leaned in further to get a better look.

The tube in front of the two superpowered individuals held a translucent clear liquid sat above a layer of thick green liquid that had been muddied brown by the red of Henry’s blood. Floating amongst the clear liquid were white spiderweb-y strands in two very obvious clumps. The higher clump was smaller and twisted tightly, seemingly unravelling then rewinding itself over and over again in a hypnotic dance, as though invisible strings were playing with it. The lower of the clumps was much larger and sat in a loose ball, barely moving, only affected by faint ripples being through the mixture by desk bumps of especially fast twists from the other clump. The movement was mesmerising and was interesting enough that Henry didn’t hear what was said next. It was only when he felt a large hand on his shoulder did he come back to himself, startled back to reality to Ray’s amused interruption.

“It looks like it’s doing a dance. It’s kinda gross, don’t you think?”

“I don’t think it’s gross. But I am wondering which one is mine.” Henry humoured, “But the dancing one looks really cool. I could stare at it all day.”

“You’re weird, kid.”

“Yup, what of it?”

“Ahem,” The quite conversation was cut short by Mr. Rahim clearing his throat, “Captain Man, if you continue interrupting my lesson, I will have to ask you to leave.”

“Sorry, sir,” Ray was immediately submitted, taking his hand back to himself and focussing on the younger man at the front of the class, it becoming obvious once again that he _really_ wanted to keep this opportunity of experiencing a normal teenage thing for as long as possible.

“Now, I overheard you mention something about ‘dancing’ DNA. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Henry answered, starting to become suspicious that perhaps that wasn’t normal.

“Do you mind if I take a look?”

“Here,” Henry carefully held up the test tube for Mr. Rahim to take as he came around to the front of the desk and held it up to the light.

“Well, I can’t say that I’ve seen that before. It is obvious that the large clump at the bottom is the kiwi DNA, simply for the amount that is in there, which means that the dancing DNA at the top must be yours, Henry. That is highly unusual!” The fascination at discovering something new had given Mr. Rahim some of his energy back, the light returning to his eyes again.

“Wait, DNA is _not_ supposed to look like that? The only other DNA I’ve seen danced that like as well. I thought the still one was weird.” Captain Man asked incredulously, genuinely surprised. Henry didn’t feel like reminding him that the DNA he had previously seen had been Henry’s also, when Schwoz had been trying to explain to them how his new superpowers worked and the changes that had been made to his body.

“And, um, whose DNA was that, Captain Man?” Morgan asked from where they were trying to get a better look at the test tube.

 _Don’t say anything, don’t say anything, don’t say anything_.

A look of contemplation fell over Captain Man’s face.

 _Please have forgotten. Or tell them you’ve forgotten. Or actually forget right now. Don’t tell them_ anything.

“Well, it was in the Man Cave after….um…something happened. I think it had something to do with a box, no, chemicals? No! It doesn’t matter. But it was in the Man Cave so it must have been…” He trailed off. Henry knew for a fact that he didn’t want to out the existence of Schwoz, nor the fact that Jasper, Henry, and Charlotte worked with him. That left two options, one of them correct. And it appeared that Ray was not thinking about the implications of what he was about to say, “…it was Kid Danger’s.”

_GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!_

Despite his best efforts, Henry could not catch his boss’ eye to give him a glare, as the man was too busy being distracted by the dancing DNA still.

A gasped spread among the class.

_I’m gonna kill him._

_I’m going to find Dr Minyak, get him to tell me where I can find those blasted beetles, and murder him myself._

_Or, I could totally just tell everyone his true identity. Less drastic, but just as damning. It’s what he deserves for ruining my life for the next god knows how long._

“Oh! I remember now! Kid Danger had just got his hypermotility and the doctor was showing us what had happened in his body!”

_Or murder. Murder could still work. I wonder how long he can survive in a vacuum. I could send him to the moon. Or maybe tie him to a boulder and drop him into the Mariana Trench. Or I could send him really far through time. I’m sure the dinosaurs could find a use for him._

“Wait, if this is caused by hypermotility, why is Henry’s like that?” the first person to recover was Brantley, who had obviously already absorbed a lot of shocking information in the last few hours that this was just another rock on the pile.

Immediately, Ray’s previously half-distracted state was ripped from him as he realised what had just happened, finally. Henry finally managed to catch his eye and if looks could kill, Captain Man would be dead ten times over. Uncertain fear flashed behind the mask, before he covered it up with a sad look, probably remembering that Kid Danger was supposed to be dead.

“Um, well. It’s not really my place to say,” the nervous laugh escaped the superhero before he could stop it.

“Is Henry going to die?” a voice called from the very back of the class, which prompted a lot of murmuring from people wondering the same thing as Charlotte, Jasper, and Henry felt their souls leave their bodies a tiny bit in desperation for everything to go back to normal and for all this to _stop_.

“ _NO!_ ” Henry couldn’t hold it in. The idea of people, once again, thinking he was dying and causing more sadness and worrying, with people treating him differently, was enough to make his blood boil and nausea to settle in his stomach. “ _None_ of you have asked how Kid Danger and I met. It just so happens that the day we met was also the day his fate was sealed.” He took a calming breath as suddenly every single pair of eyes was on him. Then another breath, this one bracing, preparing himself for yet another lie that he was going to tell. “The day I met Kid Danger I was taking the bin bags out the back at work and he was there. He said that he had just lost the trail of some maniac who was trying to hit him with a laser to see what would happen. I didn’t have my phone on me, but I knew that I had to get something for Piper, so I asked him for an autograph on the post-it-note I had. As I was pulling a pen from my pocket, this woman with a really big gun on her arm rounded the corner of the alley and aimed. Kid Danger jumped on top of me to get us both out of the way, but the woman moved her aim and got him right in the back. The beam of the laser was really wide and it got my hand that was exposed to it,” Henry waved his right hand, as though to show them the hand he meant, feeling sick to his stomach over the fact that his life had come to this. “After that, the woman said something, but I didn’t really hear what she was saying, and I don’t think he did, either. Even with it hitting just my hand, it hurt like hell,” flashes from when he _actually_ got his hypermotility hit him as he recalled it. A burning sensation starting in his nose and throat, spreading down into his lungs and then, as he took more breaths, spread to every single inch of his body. The burning growing hotter and hotter to the point where Henry was sure he was going to burst into flames, before stopping instantly. His base temperature now just above normal, but still well within the healthy range. “It _burned!_ My entire body was on fire from the inside, out. I could literally feel my cells being rewritten, though I know for a fact that Kid Danger had it worse. The woman ran away when he started screaming. It was horrible. It stopped for me really quickly. It couldn’t have been for more than three minutes. But he was screaming for a really long time. I decided to sit with him, and even got him a glass of water, muffin, and a pillow from the shop to rest his head on. When he stopped, he thanked me, consumed the consumables, and then ran off after the lady again.” Henry genuinely had to stop for a moment, there. The flashes from his own transformation that he had been using to base his story off of were coming back faster and stronger.

**_Burning, everywhere, burning. Fire in my veins. Lava filling my head. Every breath, pain. Let me die, let me die, let me die, let me die. Why won’t it stop? I can’t scream. Too much fire. Why won’t I scream? I want to scream._ **

“Henry?” The concerned faces of Captain Man and Mr. Brantley replaced his memories. “You okay?” Henry took another deep breath, leaning into the arm that Ray had put around him at some point, soaking in the feeling of ‘safety’ he got from it.

“No, yeah. I’m okay. Sorry,” he shook himself off, leaning back away from Ray after enough time had past for him to calm his heartrate down.

“Y-He never told me it hurt?” The near slip up did nothing to hide the dismay and guilt that was oozing off him in buckets.

“Heh, yeah, well… _he_ didn’t want to worry you, is all.”

“Just because he got it worse, it doesn’t mean that it won’t still happen to you. It might just take longer.” The same girl who called out before interrupted the moment and was promptly met with a hissed ‘ _Lucy!’_ from her desk mate.

“ _Because_ ,” Henry bit out, temper shortening as the thought of more lies weighed on his conscience, “A few days later, when I was just closing up, he came to the shop and told me that he’d been checked over by a doctor and that I should probably do the same. He took me to see a private doctor and we got my blood taken. He said that I was not affected as strongly as Kid Danger and I probably wouldn’t have any side effects. That has remained mostly true, even a year and a bit later.”

Jasper caught his eye as he was given an inconspicuous thumbs up.

“What do you mean, mostly?” Mr. Rahim asked, test tube hanging forgotten in his hand, dangerously close to spilling everywhere.

“I don’t really see the need to tell you that,” Henry really didn’t want to admit to having superpowers. If it got out then his death sentence was practically written, signed, sealed, and delivered by the devil himself.

“Henry,” the teacher leaned further forwards, agitated by the thought of his student possibly dying and refusing to tell anybody about it, “I know that saying things like this out-loud is scary, but if you’re showing symptoms then you _need_ to tell somebody,” and, without thinking, Mr. Rahim lifted the hand holding the test tube and opened his hand to place it on top of Henry’s in support.

In slow motion, Henry watched the test tube fall towards the table, looking to land directly on the work sheets, exploding glass, alcohol, and other various liquids everywhere.

Before any conscious thought could be put into the action, Henry reached out at superhuman speed and caught the tube before it could even fall a centimetre.

_…_

_……_

_………._

_Shit_


End file.
